Kota Kinabalu: A 62-year-old retired army officer was charged with receiving bribe amounting to RM15,000.
Azman Ariffin pleaded not guilty before Sessions Court Judge Jason Juga, to the charge against him on Tuesday.
Azman, who was at the time of the alleged offence, a staff officer at the Markas Briged Ke-5 Infantri, Kem Lok Kawi, is accused of accepting the bribe from one Kasriza Sudin, 37, as a reward for issuing an offer letter for cleaning the camp area for contract period from June 1, 2014 until May 31, 2015.
The offer letter dated May 12, 2014 was under the name of SB Lui Enterprise.
The alleged offence took place in August 2014 at the main entrance of Suria Sabah Shopping Mall, here.
He was charged under Section 16(a)(B) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 and punishable under Section 24(1) of the same Act which provides for a jail term of up to 20 years and a fine of five times the amount involved or RM10,000, whichever is higher, on conviction.
The court set May 23 this year for pre-trial case management and released Azman on a bail of RM20,000 with RM2,000 deposited in a local surety who has permanent employment and address.
Azman was also ordered to report himself to the MACC office once in two months until disposal of the case and his international passport, if any, to be surrendered to the court and with liberty to apply for temporary return in the event that he needed to travel.
The court also warned Azman to not harass any of the prosecution witnesses failing which his bail shall be revoked.
MACC Deputy Public Prosecutor Nurul Izzati Sapiee appeared for the prosecution while counsel Amli Nohin defended Azman.
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