KUALA LUMPUR – Three Customs Department enforcement officers were charged today with accepting bribes amounting to RM36,300 in exchange for not inspecting lorries carrying goods.
The three pleaded not guilty to the charges at the Kuala Lumpur sessions court in separate courtrooms.
The accused are Shaharudin Suboh, 54, who faces 22 charges; Alizan Wahid, 43, who faces four charges; and Ismail Idris, 49, who has six counts of accepting bribes.
Shahrudin’s 22 charges include accepting bribes amounting to RM13,600, between August 30, 2017, and July 11, 2023.
Alizan was charged with four counts of accepting bribes totalling RM17,500, between May 26 and December 28, 2018.
Both of them pleaded not guilty before the same judge, Suzana Hussin.
Meanwhile, in a separate courtroom before judge Azura Alwi, Ismail pleaded not guilty to six counts of accepting bribes amounting to RM5,200 between November 17, 2020, and September 19, 2022.
The three officers allegedly received the bribes through online transfers to their respective bank accounts from the owner of a shipping company named Kalos Enterprise.
The funds were inducements for them not to inspect the firm’s lorries which were transporting goods out of Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s (KLIA) cargo section.
The three are among a total of 23 Customs officials nabbed by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in recent weeks for causing around RM2 billion losses in tax revenue for the government.
All three officers are charged under Section 17(a) of the MACC Act for accepting bribes, and face up to 20 years in prison with fines no less than five times the amount of the bribes if convicted.
The court granted bail of RM15,000 with one surety each to Shaharudin and Alizan, while Ismail was granted bail of RM8,000 with one surety.
Additional terms for all three men were to hand over their passports to the court throughout the trial, report to the nearest MACC office once a month, and avoid contacting or disturbing the prosecution’s witnesses.
The next case mention for Alizan and Ismail is set for July 2, while July 10 is set for Shaharudin’s case.
Deputy public prosecutor Nurul Atiqah Mohamad Alias prosecuted Alizan and Ismail, while defence counsel Ridha Abdah Subri represented the two men.
Meanwhile, DPP Muhammad Asraf Mohamed Tahir represented the prosecution against Shaharudin, who was represented by defence counsel Iqhmar Syafiq Mohd Azmi. Iqhmar said lawyer Muhammad Aizat Fakri will also be a counsel.
The DPPs, Ridha, and Muhammad Aizat were also the prosecution and defence representatives for a similar trial at the Shah Alam sessions court yesterday, where four more Customs officers were charged with accepting bribes from the same firm.
The Customs enforcement assistants, who were arrested in Ops Samba 2.0, were charged in court with receiving bribes from the same company, amounting to RM39,800.
On Tuesday, four enforcement assistants were similarly charged, with the bribes totaling RM39,750.
Last week, two Customs officers were charged in court in Johor and Negeri Sembilan after being arrested under Ops Samba 2.0.
Three more Customs officers were charged at the Shah Alam sessions court today, bringing the current total to 16 individuals charged.
A total of 23 Customs Department officers and personnel will be charged under Section 17 (a) of the MACC Act and Section 165 of the Penal Code, in six separate sessions courts nationwide until June 6.
Ops Samba 2.0, conducted from March 11 to 25, focused on investigations into members and officers of the Customs Department who were on duty at the cargo section of KLIA.
The operation detected tax revenue leakage amounting to RM2 billion.
Ops Samba 2.0, conducted with the Inland Revenue Board and Bank Negara Malaysia, aims to address this critical national revenue loss, which poses a continuous economic threat if left unchecked. – May 30, 2024