KUALA LUMPUR, March 16 — A senior Petronas manager was acquitted and discharged by the Sessions Court here today, of four graft charges totalling RM23,200 in 2008.

Judge Ahmad Zamzani Mohd Zain made the decision after finding the defence succeeded in establishing reasonable doubt against the charges faced by Ishak Hashim.

Upon hearing the verdict, Ishak, 49, smiled at his family members.

Ahmad Zamzani said the accused had given an honest explanation about the money he allegedly received from Erision Chem Sdn Bhd.

The court also found that the accused’s defence was not an after-thought and two of the prosecution witnesses gave conflicting testimonies.

Ishak, who was the senior manager of customer risk management, was charged with two counts of accepting bribes totalling RM22,800 from Erision Chem Sdn Bhd director Choo Ka Ckye, via his Maybank account and his friend, Syed Mustaffa Syed Abu Bakar’s Maybank account, as gratification for supplying Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to the company.

Ishak was also alleged to have asked for RM200 bribe each from Choo and another director of the company, Abdul Khair Walli Mohamed, for the same purpose.

He was alleged to have committed the offences between June 15 and Sept 19, 2008 at Corus Hotel, Jalan Ampang and Lot 1485, Kampung Alor Janggus, Napoh, near Jitra.

Ishak was represented by counsel Jesvinderjit Singh, while the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission prosecuting officer Wan Ahmad Nidzam Wan Omar acted for the prosecution.

Nineteen prosecution witnesses and three defence witnesses were called to testify in the case.

Ishak, who has been suspended from his position, told reporters that he was happy and felt relieved with the judgment. — Bernama