Five officers from Penang JPJ, one from SPAD, face 63 bribery charges for closing eye to rogue lorry firms
Opalyn Mok
Malay Mail24 July 2019
The five RTD and one SPAD enforcement officers arriving at the Sessions Court in Butterworth July 24, 2019. — Picture by Sayuti ZainudinMore
SEBERANG PERAI, July 24 — Six enforcement officers from the Road Transport Department (RTD) and Land and Public Transport Commission (SPAD) were charged with graft amounting to RM73,600 at the Special Corruption Court here today.
Another 12 officers from the RTD, more commonly known by its Malay initials JPJ, are expected to be charged over the next two days.
The five RTD and one SPAD enforcement officers, all based in Penang, claimed trial to 63 charges in total for receiving between RM800 and RM51,050 each on separate occasions at various banks in Bukit Mertajam.
They are accused of accepting the bribes between March 2015 and August 2018 to overlook taking enforcement action against rogue lorry companies.
The bribes were allegedly deposited into the bank accounts of the accused and that of a third party during that period.
Deputy public prosecutor S. Selvaranjini suggested bail amounts of between RM10,000 and RM35,000 and judge Nizam Zakaria fixed bail of between RM5,000 and RM25,000 each.
RTD enforcement officer Ahmad Daniel Magendran Abdullah, 41, faced 36 charges of receiving RM51,050 between March 2015 and August 2018. He was allowed bail of RM25,000 in two sureties.
RTD officer Hasrol Sani Abu Bakar, 39, charged with receiving RM9,100 on five different occasions between September 2017 and April 2018. He was allowed bail of RM8,000 in one surety.
RTD enforcement officer Muhammad Airil Teo Abdullah, 31, was charged with 12 offences of receiving a total RM6,900 between July 2016 and February 2018. He was allowed bail of RM10,000 in one surety.
RTD enforcement officer Najib Mohamad Tarmizi, 32 faced four charges involving a total RM4,000 between March 2018 and June 2018. He was allowed bail of RM10,000 in one surety.
RTD vehicle inspection officer Ahmad Tajuddin Husin, 35, faced two charges of accepting a total RM800 in bribes sometime in September 2017. He was allowed bail of RM5,000 in one surety.
Finally, SPAD officer Ahmad Alamin Don, 33, faced four charges involving a total RM1,750. He was allowed bail of RM5,000 in one surety.
All RTD officers were represented by Datuk Naran Singh while Ahmad Alamin was unrepresented.
In mitigating the bail sum, Naran told the court that the five accused are civil servants based in Penang.
“They have very low flight risk as some of them are still attached with the RTD and all of them are Malaysians,” he told the court.
Nizam then ordered for all of the suspects’ passports to be impounded and fixed September 12 for mention of the case.
All six were charged under Section 16(a)(B) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 for soliciting a bribe.
They faced alternative charges 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.
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.
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