The charges stated that the bribes were given as inducement to Zulfikar who was at that time an auditor at Sabah State Finance Ministry, for not conducting surprise inspections on Kilang Sawit Bell Sdn Bhd regarding the falsification of the Sabah State Finance Ministry (Form 4) state sale tax statements for May 2014 until October 2015.
Kota Kinabalu: The court fixed Nov 11 for further mention of a case involving a civil servant and retiree charged with accepting bribes and abetting in receiving the bribes involving a sum of RM780,000.
Sessions Court Judge Jason Juga set the date for Zulfikar Khomeini Asli, 44, and Mat Salleh @ Awang Sapong, 67, when their cases were brought up for mention.
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They had, on May 23 this year, claimed trial separately to 34 charges against them.
On the first to 34th counts, Zulfikar who is currently an auditor at the Rural Development Ministry, is accused of receiving the bribes which he allegedly received through cheques from Kilang Sawit Bell Sdn Bhd before the money was transferred into two companies’ accounts under the name Syarikat Lihot Construction belonging to Zulfikar’s mother and Syarikat Sri Atussin Enterprise belonging to his brother.
The charges stated that the bribes were given as inducement to Zulfikar who was at that time an auditor at Sabah State Finance Ministry, for not conducting surprise inspections on Kilang Sawit Bell Sdn Bhd regarding the falsification of the Sabah State Finance Ministry (Form 4) state sale tax statements for May 2014 until October 2015.
The offences allegedly took place between July 24, 2014 and Nov 24, 2015 at the Malayan Banking Berhad Sipitang branch.
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The offence, under Section 17(a) of the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, for accepting a bribe, which carries a jail term of up to 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the bribe involved, or up to RM10,000, whichever is higher, on conviction.
Meanwhile, Mat Salleh, who was an administration assistant at the State Sales Tax Unit at that time, on the first to 34th counts, is accused of abetting Zulfikar to receive the bribes for the same purpose, place and time.
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The charges against Mat Salleh falls under Section 28(1)(c) of the same Act and read together with Section 17(a) of the same Act carries a jail term of up to 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the bribe involved, or up to RM10,000, whichever is higher, on conviction.
The court ordered for their bail to be extended pending the disposal of their case.
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