GEORGE TOWN, March 8 ― A 51-year-old former Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) lecturer was charged at the Magistrates’ Court today with cheating and using a forged document to apply for a position in the university.
N. Thevananthan was first charged with cheating USM on August 15, 2008 by using false documents to be appointed as a lecturer there with his salary during the entire employment period totalling RM195,081.38.
The cheating offence, under Section 420 of the Penal Code, carries a jail sentence of between one to 10 years with whipping and fine.
Thevananthan was also charged with using forged documents as genuine documents when applying for the lecturer position in USM on August 15, 2008.
He claimed trial to both charges.
Magistrate L. Umma Devi set bail at RM9,000 for the first charge and RM8,500 for the second charge.
She then fixed April 9 for mention of the case.
It is learnt that Thevanathan had applied for a lecturer position at USM by furnishing several doctorate certificates from universities in the US and Canada.
USM hired him, but found out in June 2011 that the copies of the doctorate degrees used by Thevanathan were fake.
The university management had then demanded an explanation from Thevanathan, but he resigned within 24 hours.
Subsequently, the university filed a police report accusing Thevanathan of cheating using forged documents.
