TAWAU: A civil servant pleaded not guilty at the Special Corruption Court, here, Thursday to using his position as Senior Finance Admin Assistant at Semporna Hospital to receive a bribe of RM16,000 five years ago.
Imrah Bakalanah, 54, claimed trial after the charge was read before Judge Abu Bakar Manat who earlier declared the case for mention in Semporna court at the request of the prosecution.
The father of five was alleged to have used his position to get kickback for approving a Government Order No. LO251141701150794 for Quarters Maintenance Works House No. PWD3823 amounting to RM19,800 to Shahrizman Jaya Development Company on Nov 2, 2015 at the office of the Finance Unit of Semporna Hospital.
The accused was charged under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 which is punishable under Section 24 of the same act which provides for imprisonment not exceeding 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the total value of the bribe.
The judge set Sep 4 for remention of the case and issued bail of RM10,000 with a local surety with RM4,000 to be deposited to the court after taking into account the accused appeal through his lawyer, Darmin Achok.
Darmin said the bail did not need to be high because it was not punishment for the accused, who was not a flight risk and who remained innocent until proven guilty, instead, the bail was only to guarantee his court attendance.
The lawyer said the accused, a Semporna local, holds a government Grade W22 position and has a monthly income of RM4,000 but that his net salary is only RM600 after family expenses and paying off debts while two of his children are still in school and another three, unemployed.
Earlier, MACC’s Prosecuting Officer Clementine Severinus applied for bail of RM10,000 and a local as guarantor with additional conditions, namely that the accused must report once every two months to the Tawau MACC office, his international passport be submitted to the court and the accused prohibited from approaching the witnesseses before and during the trial.
All the additional conditions were allowed by the court without objection from the defence counsel.
