KUALA LUMPUR, May 25 — A businessman known as “Datuk Roy” and a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officer have pleaded not guilty to two corruption charges involving alleged inducement to prevent the detention of Datuk Fakhri Yassin Mahiaddin, the son of the former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Malaysiakini reported today.

The accused, whose real names are Mohd Hussein Mohd Nasir, 53, and Mohd Rasyidi Mohd Said, 42, appeared before the Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur this morning.

According to the news portal, the first charge accused them of soliciting RM400,000 in cash from Dalena Berhan in exchange for not remanding Fakhri, while the second charge alleges them of receiving RM240,000 from Syed Farid Syed Al Attas for the same inducement.

They were accused of committing the alleged offences at two different restaurants in Kuala Lumpur between March 5 and 6 of this year.

If found guilty of either of the two charges under Section 16 (a)(A) of the MACC Act 2009 and punishable under Section 24(1) of the same Act, Hussein and Rasyidi could face a maximum prison sentence of 20 years, a fine of not less than five times the amount involved in the offence or RM10,000, whichever is higher.

Judge Azura Alwi has granted permission for the case to be transferred to another Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur, where Hussein is expected to face an additional charge.

Azura did not make a decision regarding bail, as that will be determined by Judge Suzana Hussin later today.

In March, Bernama reported that the MACC had arrested one of its officers and three other individuals including a woman for allegedly soliciting and accepting bribes amounting to RM400,000 to avoid investigations involving the Jana Wibawa programme.

The Jana Wibawa, or “Program Jana Ekonomi Pemerkasaan Kontraktor Bumiputera Berwibawa”, was introduced by Muhyiddin's administration, aimed at improving the capacity of Bumiputera contractors in the construction sector to be more resilient and copetitive and speed up their projects to spur the nation’s economic recovery post Covid-19 pandemic.

It was reported that “Datuk Roy”, who is believed to be the mastermind in the corruption case, had surrendered himself to the graft busters on March 13.