3 Customs officers plead not guilty to bribery charges
SEREMBAN: Three Customs Department enforcement officers pleaded not guilty in the Sessions Court here to six counts of accepting bribes totalling RM7,150.
Earizal Mohd Khalid, 43, Ngu Su Siew, 35, and Mohamad Izuwan Mohd Ali, 32, made the plea after the charges were read separately before judge Tuan Meor Sulaiman Ahmad Tarmizi
Earizal was charged with three counts of accepting bribes with a total value of RM2,950 between May 28, 2017, and March 3, 2018, at a bank in Kuala Pilah, while Ngu was charged with one count of accepting a RM3,000 bribe on Dec 20, 2022, at a bank in Nilai.
Izuwan was charged with two counts of accepting bribes totaling RM1,200 between Aug 23, 2019, and March 31, 2020, at a bank also in Nilai.
They were accused of accepting bribes from a company by transferring money online to their respective bank accounts, as an inducement to not inspect the company’s lorries ferrying goods from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport Cargo terminal.
The charges were framed under Section 17(a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, punishable under Section 24(1) of the same Act, which provides for a maximum prison sentence of 20 years or a fine of not less than five times the value of the bribe, or RM10,000, whichever is higher, if convicted.
Deputy public prosecutors Muhammad Asraf Mohamed Tahir and Maziah Mohaide appeared for the prosecution. Lawyer Helmi Hassan represented Earizal.
Adhwa’ Afiqah Mohd Azmi represented Ngu and Izuwan.
The court allowed all the accused a bail of RM6,000 in one surety each and ordered them to surrender their passports to the court and report to the MACC office every month until their cases are disposed of.
The accused are also not allowed to contact and disturb the prosecution witnesses.
The court set July 12 for remention.