KUALA LUMPUR: Former Rural Development Ministry secretary-general Datuk Mohd Arif Ab Rahman and his son Ahmad Zukhairi was sentenced to five years and three years in jail respectively after they were found guilty of graft involving a total amount of SG$200,000 (RM627,833).
Mohd Arif was also fined RM3million in default 3 years’ imprisonment while his son Ahmad Zukairi was slapped with RM9.6 million fined in default 10 years’ imprisonment by Sessions Court judge Azura Alwi.
Mohd Arif, 61, was found guilty with abetting Ahmad Zukhairi, and using his position to procure gratification from Mohd Safian Mohd Salleh, who is the director of Syarikat Wazlina Sdn Bhd, an installer company.
He is alleged to have accepted SG$200,000 (RM627,833) as an inducement for awarding a RM60 million Rural Electricity Supply (BELB) project pertaining to a solar hybrid system in four remote islands off Sandakan, Sabah, to Syarikat Eramaz (M) Sdn Bhd, via direct negotiation.
Meanwhile, Ahmad Zukhairi, 36, was slapped with four counts for soliciting and receiving bribes from several projects involving the Rural Development Ministry.
Ahmad Zukhairi was charged with receiving SG$200,000 (RM627,833) with his father for the same project in four remote islands off Sandakan, Sabah.
He was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment and fined RM3 million in default three years’ imprisonment for this offence.
He also had allegedly solicited for a two per cent commission from contractor Mohd Safian Mohd Salleh, as a bribe to assist Eramaz (M) Sdn Bhd in securing the ‘Solar Hybrid Rural Electricity Supply’ project to six islands in Sandakan, Sabah worth RM60 million.
Ahmad Zukhairi was sentenced to three years’ jail and fined RM6 million in default four years imprisonment.
For the third offence, he was charged with accepting RM70,000 from Zul Fadli Rozi as a payment to assist HH Global Construction Sdn Bhd to acquire a project in Tasik Kenyir, Terengganu on Aug 18, 2016.
Zukhairi had allegedly accepting another RM50,000 from Zul Fadli Rozi for the same purpose at Garden Course Glenmarie Golf and Country Club in Shah Alam in Sept 2016.
He was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment and fined RM250 in default 18 months’ imprisonment.
The court ordered the sentences to run concurrently from the date of the sentence.
Azura in her judgment said the defence had failed to raise reasonable doubt against the prosecution team.
“The prosecution team managed to prove that there is an element of soliciting and receiving bribes committed by the first accused (Ahmad Zukhairi).
“Even though Ahmad Zukhairi is not a public servant, he had mentioned that his father would be transferred to Rural Development Ministry and he would follow up the matter with the latter (relating to the solar hybrid project).
“The defence also failed to give an honest explanation during trial and the statement from the witnesses were mere denials,” she said.
The charges, framed under Section 16 (a)(B) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 carries a maximum jail term of 20 years and a fine of RM10,000, or five times the value of the bribe, whichever is higher.
Counsel Afifuddin Hafifi who represent the duo when pleaded for lenience sentence said both of his clients were remorseful of their crime and applied for a stay of execution pending appeal.
However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Irwanshah Abdul Samad pressed for deterrent sentence stating that the case involved public interest.
“I also objected to the stay of execution as there are no special circumstances for both accused,” he said.
The court allowed the stay of execution and increase the duo’s bail from RM200,000 to RM500,000 with one surety and ordered the accused to report at the nearest Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) office once a month.