Sahiful (left) with his counsel Shahlan outside the courtroom on Friday.
KOTA KINABALU: An office head of a government department pleaded not guilty in a Sessions Court here on Friday to two corruption charges.
On the first count, Sahiful Ag. Ahmad, 47, who appeared before judge Abu Bakar Manat, was accused of corruptly receiving RM10,000 from a woman at a restaurant in a hotel here at 7.50pm on November 1, 2019.
The money was allegedly as an inducement to get a permission letter for a tugboat to operate at a port here.
The charge was under Section 16 (a) (B) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009, punishable under Section 24 (1) of the same Act.
The indictment provides for a jail term of up to 20 years and a fine of five times of the bribe involved, upon conviction.
On the second count, the accused, who was defended by counsel Shahlan Jufri, had allegedly received RM20,000 from an owner of a company that may allegedly related to the accused’s official duty.
The alleged offence took place at a car park compound here in September 2019.
Sahiful was charged under Section 165 of the Penal Code which is punishable by a jail term of up to two years or a fine, or both, upon conviction.
The court fixed August 27 for handing over documents to be used in the trial and the accused was granted RM10,000 bail with RM5,000 deposit and his wife as surety.
The court also ordered the accused to report once in two months at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission office in Lahad Datu and the accused was reminded not to disturb any of the prosecution’s witnesses.
His passport will also be kept by the court, pending disposal of the case.