MELAKA: An assistant administrative officer from the Historic Melaka City Council was charged at the Ayer Keroh Sessions Court today with two counts of accepting RM2,700 in bribes from an advertising company manager.
Muhammad Firdaus Ab Aziz, 41, pleaded not guilty to all charges after they were read to him by the court interpreter before Judge Elesabet Paya Wan.
For the first charge, Firdaus, in his capacity as the assistant administrative officer at the city council, was accused of accepting RM2,200 in cash from Syarikat Pusat Pengiklanan Prisma manager Ong Ah Siong although he knew that Ong and the company had a connection with his official duties.
As for second charge, Firdaus was accused of committing the same offence by receiving RM500 from Ong Ah Siong through his son, Ong Wei.
He was accused of committing these offences at a location in the Melaka Tengah district on Oct 27, 2021, as well as between Jan 15 and Jan 31 last year.
He was charged under Section 165 of the Penal Code which stated that it is an offence for a public servant to accepts or obtains any valueable thing from any person who has any connection with his or her official duties.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission deputy public prosecutor Mohamad Azriff Firdaus Mohamad Ali prosecuted, while the accused was not represented.
Azriff Firdaus proposed bail of RM5,000 with one surety, along with conditions for the accused to report to the Melaka MACC office once a month and to surrender his passport to the court.
The court later set bail at RM4,000 with one surety, and ordered the accused to surrender his passport and report to the Melaka MACC office once a month.
The case has been fixed for mention on Aug 14 to allow for the submission of documents and to enable the accused to appoint a lawyer.