Former Human Resources Minister Saravanan pleads not guilty to three corruption charges involving RM1.097 million in foreign worker quota bribes.
KUALA LUMPUR: Former Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan today pleaded not guilty at the Sessions Court here to three charges of accepting bribes totalling RM1.097 million in connection with the approval of foreign worker quotas in 2022.
The 58-year-old MIC deputy president is accused of receiving the money on three occasions as an inducement to approve applications for 1,000 foreign worker quotas for TYKB Engineering Sdn Bhd.
According to the charges, Saravanan allegedly received RM150,000 and RM350,000 in cash from Vectica Resources Sdn Bhd director Tan Teck Lim, 65, through Syed Amirul Syed Ahmad, 38.
The first alleged offence took place at a golf and country resort in Bukit Jalil on June 16, 2022, while the second allegedly occurred in Bangsar on July 7, 2022.
For the third charge, Saravanan is accused of receiving a RM597,000 cheque from Tan through Syed Amirul, which was subsequently deposited into a Maybank Islamic Bhd account belonging to Big Seven Ventures Sdn Bhd.
The third alleged offence was committed at a bank in Jalan Klang Lama, Taman Desa, also on July 7, 2022.
All three charges were framed under Section 16(a)(B) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009.
If convicted, Saravanan faces a maximum jail term of 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the amount of gratification involved, or RM10,000, whichever is higher.
Saravanan appeared composed in the dock and entered his plea after the charges were read out before Sessions Court Judge Azura Alwi.
He was represented by lawyer Datuk Geethan Ram Vincent, while MACC senior deputy director of the Legal and Prosecution Division Datuk Ahmad Akram Gharib led the prosecution.
Saravanan served as Human Resources Minister from March 2020 to November 2022 and is currently serving his fourth term as Tapah MP.
He had yesterday maintained that he had never known or communicated with the individual whose allegations allegedly formed the basis of the case.
Saravanan said he was prepared to defend himself in court and that his lawyers would seek an expedited hearing.
