KUANTAN: A former temporary staff at the Prime Minister's Department Economic Planning Unit (EPU) was today charged with 15 counts of receiving RM9,700 in bribes from two individuals three years ago.
Rozairi Ismail, 33, pleaded guilty after all the charges were read to him before Sessions Court judge Datuk Ahmad Zamzani Mohd Zain.
The accused, who used to serve as a daily temporary worker at the EPU, faced eight charges of receiving cash between RM300 and RM3,000 from an individual for providing early information in connection with projects that were to be carried out by the EPU.
He allegedly failed to report bribery amounting to RM7,300 to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) which occurred between Oct 20, 2020 and Jan 2, 2021.
MACC's deputy public prosecutor Nur Zahida Muhammad Ruzi and prosecuting officer Ikhwan Ihsan Jalaluddin handled the prosecution while Rozairi was represented by National Legal Aid Foundation (YBGK) lawyer Mohd Shuhairil Ziqrul Sapi.
Nur Zahida requested for a new mention date saying Rozairi will be charged at the Shah Alam court next month for a similar offence and the prosecution will apply for the case to be heard in Kuantan.
Shuhairil did not object, saying his client wanted to plead guilty to all the charges including the one scheduled to be read in Shah Alam.
Nur Zahida proposed bail at RM10,000 for the eight charges but Shuhairil pleaded a lower amount saying his client was only working as an e-hailing driver earning around RM1,200 a month and is currently doing his master's degree at a higher learning institution.
Ahmad Zamzani fixed an RM8,000 bail with one surety and told the accused to report to the MACC office every month starting October and to surrender his passport to the court until the case is over. He fixed Nov 29 for mention and sentencing.
In the same courtroom, Rozairi was served another seven charges for receiving cash amounting to RM2,400 from another individual for disclosing early details about projects that were soon to be executed by the EPU.
He had allegedly received the cash amounting between RM200 and RM500 through his online banking account between July 24, 2020 and Dec 8, 2020.
The bachelor had allegedly committed all the offences at a financial institution at Bandar Pusat Jengka, Maran.
He was charged under Section 25(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 for not reporting the bribery.
The charge under Section 25(1) carries a maximum fine of RM100,000 or a jail term of not more than 10 years or both upon conviction.
Nur Zahida proposed bail at RM10,000 but Shuhairil asked for a lower amount saying his client had already been handed a RM8,000 bail earlier.
Ahmad Zamzani fixed a RM5,000 bail with the same conditions and set Nov 29 to deliver the verdict.