KUANTAN, June 5 — A Royal Malaysian Customs Department (Customs) enforcement assistant was charged in the Sessions Court here today with four counts of accepting bribes, amounting to RM3,200, between July 2018 and September 2022.
Solehuddin Isa, 37, pleaded not guilty after the charges were read before Judge Mohd Sabri Ismail.
Based on the charge sheet, the accused, who was on duty at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), had accepted bribes of between RM300 and RM2,000 from J. Jehatis, the owner of Kalos Enterprise, as an inducement not to inspect the company's lorries ferrying goods from KLIA Cargo.
He was charged under Section 17(a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, for accepting the bribes between July 31, 2018 and September 11, 2022, through online transactions from Jehatis to his account at Maybank Temerloh branch.
If convicted, the accused can be punished according to Section 24(1) of the same law, which provides a maximum imprisonment of up to 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the value of the bribe, or RM10,000, whichever is higher.
MACC deputy public prosecutor Mohd Afif Ali proposed bail of RM10,000 in one surety, with additional conditions that the accused report to the nearest MACC office every month, and not disturb prosecution witnesses until the disposal of the case.
Lawyers Mohd Nazri Yahya and Mohd Faiz Omar, who represented the accused, appealed for a lower bail at RM3,000, on the grounds that the accused needed to support his wife and six children, aged three months to 10 years.
Judge Mohd Sabri then set bail at RM10,000 for Solehuddin, in one surety, and allowed the additional conditions proposed by the prosecution, and set July 19 for submission of documents and case management. — Bernama
