SHAH ALAM, Sept 29 ― Kuala Lumpur Customs Department director, Datuk Mohd Isa Endot, and five other senior Customs officers were today charged in the Sessions Court, here, with 21 counts of corruption involving bribes received amounting to RM39,200 between February and August, this year.

The graft cases were in connection with the smuggling of liquor for which duty had not been paid for.

The five other officers charged include Assistant Superintendent Muhamad Helmi Burhanudin from the Operations Branch of the Enforcement Division, Selangor Customs headquarters and Senior Asst. Supt. II Wan Azman Wan Ali from the KL Customs Department.

The others are Asst. Supt Mohamad Fauzi Kamsar, Supt Shamsul Anwar Mohd Radzi and senior Customs officer Azlee Mohamed Yusof, also from the Kuala Lumpur Customs Department.

Mohd Isa, Muhamad Helmi, Wan Azman and Mohamad Fauzi were separately charged while Shamsul Anwar and Azlee were jointly charged.

Mohd Isa, 55, pleaded not guilty to four charges of accepting bribes amounting to RM8,000 as monthly payment and protecton money to facilitate a company's dealings with Customs.

He is alleged to have committed the offences at his office, Level 5, Block C, Wisma Kastam Kelana Jaya, between May and August, this year.

Muhamad Helmi, 37, meanwhile, pleaded not guilty to seven charges of accepting bribes on a monthly basis amounting to RM14,000 as inducement not to disturb a lorry leaving the Klang Free Port. The lorry belonged to an individual with vested interest.

Muhamad Helmi allegedly committed the offences at the Operations Branch of the Enforcement Division, Selangor Customs Department between February and August, this year.

Wan Azman, 47, pleaded not guilty to five accounts of soliciting for and receiving bribes amounting to RM10,000 from an individual at the Kuala Lumpur Customs Warehousing Branch while being aware that the person had official connection with the Kuala Lumpur Customs director.

The offences were allegedly committed between May and August, 2014 in the Klang Valley.

Mohamad Fauzi, 33, also pleaded not guilty to three charges of accepting bribes amounting to RM4,200 as inducement not to interfere with liquor smuggling activities during the inspection operations, allegedly between last June and August in Kelana Jaya, Selangor.

Shamsul Anwar, 32, and Azlee, 48, jointly face two corruption charges of accepting bribes amounting to RM3,000 from an individual as inducement not to disturb that person's business.

The alleged offences, to which they pleaded not guilty, were committed between July and August, 2014 in Kelana Jaya, Selangor.

All the charges againt the six accused were made under Section 16(a)(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 and Section 165 of the Penal Code.

Judge Datuk Noradidah Ahmad allowed Mohd Isa bail of RM25,000 in one surety,  Muhamad Helmi RM20,000, Wan Azman RM15,000, Mohamad Fauzi RM10,000, Shamsul Anwar RM8,000 and Azlee RM3,000, also in one surety each.

The accused were also ordered to surrender their passports to the court and all the cases will be rementioned on Oct 30.

DPP Umar Saifuddin Jaafar from the MACC appeared for the prosecution, while the accused were represented by lawyers Gabriel Susayan, Radehayati Johateh, Mona Hazratulaswati Fauzi, V.Kumaresan and Syed Ismat Syed Muhamad.. ― Bernama