KUALA LUMPUR: A 37-year-old former assistant manager of a company was charged at the Sessions Court today with two counts of soliciting and accepting bribes to secure grant funding for the Double Trouble 2 Concert last year.
The accused, Noorfadhilah Mohd Idris, who is eight months pregnant, pleaded not guilty after the charges were read before judge Suzana Hussin.
On the first count, Noorfadhilah was accused of soliciting RM30,000 cash from Abd Zamin Abd Kadir as an inducement to help obtain approval for the Digital Content Fund Grant for Playmad Sdn Bhd to organise the concert.
For the second charge, she was accused of accepting RM13,900 from Anggerik Event Sdn Bhd as inducement to help secure the grant funding to organise the concert.
The offences were committed between January and Sept 11 last year.
The charges were framed under Section 16(a)(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act punishable under Section 24(1).
It carries a maximum 20-year jail term and a fine not less than five times the bribe sum or RM10,000, whichever is higher upon conviction.
Deputy public prosecutor Mohamad Azriff Firdaus Mohamad Ali urged the court to fix bail at RM20,000 for both charges.
As additional conditions, he asked for the accused to report to the MACC office and her passport to be surrendered to court.
Defence counsel Mohd Zali Shaari asked for the bail sum to be reduced as his client was heavily pregnant.
"She is pregnant with her third child and no longer working because of this case.
"She is helping her husband who is self employed," he added.
The judge set bail at RM13,000 with one surety for both charges and allowed the prosecution's additional conditions. Aug 9 was set for mention.