SEBERANG PERAI, May 28 — Eight Road Transport Department (RTD) officials and one former official with the Land and Public Transport Commission (SPAD) were today charged with a whopping 164 counts of accepting bribes totalling RM136,010 at the Special Sessions Court for Corruption here.
The nine civil servants, all based in Penang, were each slapped with between 11 and 33 charges for receiving bribes of between RM24,100 and RM4,210 on separate occasions at various banks in Bukit Mertajam.
They allegedly accepted the bribes over a course of three years, from January 16, 2015 to August 20, 2018 from Ooi Cheng Keat, a director of Sam Lian Transport & Tyre Sdn Bhd and TSR Transport Sdn Bhd.
The bribes were allegedly deposited into the bank accounts of the respective accused and that of a third party.
Below is the list of charges for each of the nine:
- RTD motor vehicle inspector Khairol Naim Mat Desa, 35, faced 13 charges involving a total sum of RM24,100 between July 2, 2016 and August 20, 2018. He was allowed bail of RM13,000 in one surety.
- RTD motor vehicle inspector Muhamad Syukri Ishak, 36, faced 16 counts of receiving a total RM24,000 in bribes between May 10, 2016 and June 12, 2018. He was allowed bail of RM16,000 in one surety.
- RTD assistant enforcement officer Noorzaimi Effendi Salleh, 36, allegedly received a total RM23,550 in 18 different occasions between July 5, 2016 and May 10, 2018. He was allowed bail of RM18,000 in one surety.
- RTD assistant enforcement officer Katimi Azmi, 35, was charged with 11 counts of receiving a total RM16,600 between August 5, 2017 and June 20, 2018. He was allowed bail of RM11,000 in one surety.
- Former SPAD Northern region assistant enforcement chief Mohd Noor Fadzny Noordin, 32, faced a total 30 charges for receiving a total RM14,250 between July 15, 2015 and July 11, 2018. He was allowed bail of RM20,000 in one surety.
- RTD assistant enforcement officer Muhammad Firdaus Jaafar, 46, allegedly received a total RM10,950 in 33 different occasions between March 13, 2015 and June 8, 2018. He was allowed bail of RM20,000 in one surety.
- RTD assistant enforcement officer M. Muniandy, 45, faced a total 15 charges involving RM9,750 between February 15, 2016 and August 1, 2017. He was allowed bail of RM15,000 in one surety.
- RTD assistant enforcement officer Pirdaus Abd Karim, 34, faced a total 13 charges amounting to RM8,600 between February 6, 2017 and August 14, 2018. He was allowed bail of RM13,000 in one surety.
- RTD assistant enforcement officer Mohd Fairdaus Ishak, 35, who allegedly accepted a total RM4,210 in 15 different occasions between January 16, 2015 and February 3, 2018. He was allowed bail of RM15,000 in one surety.
They were charged either under Section 165 of the Penal Code for obtaining any valuable thing without consideration from the person concerned in any proceeding or business transacted by the public servant or Section 16(a)(B) of the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission Act 2009 for soliciting a bribe.
Section 165 Penal Code provides for a jail term of up to two years, a fine or both while Section 16(a)(B) of the MACC Act 2009 provides a jail term of not more than 20 years and a fine of not less than five times of the amount of bribe received or RM10,000 whichever is higher.
Mohd Noor Fadzny and Muhamad Syukri were unrepresented and told to appoint lawyers for the next date.
Deputy Public Prosecutor S. Selvaranjini prosecuted the case while K. Mahendren represented Muniandy and Ashwinder Kaur represented the remaining six suspects.
Judge Nizam Zakaria ordered for all of the suspects’ passports to be impounded.
She fixed July 2 for mention of the case.
