Ex-Sime Darby GM to serve only two years in jail

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Sime Darby Engineering Sdn Bhd general manager Md Zaki Othman, 53, will only have to spend two years in jail, instead of 27 years, for five charges of corruption after the High Court allowed his appeal today.
Judicial Commissioner Ab Karim Ab Rahman said the appropriate sentence for each charge should be two years and the sentences would run concurrently.
"His sentence will take effect from today," he added.
Md Zaki had been found guilty of the corruption charges amounting to more than RM180,000.
He had on Jan 4, 2011 been charged with two counts of corruption in Johor. He was produced before the Kuala Lumpur sessions court where two charges were preferred against him and later in the Shah Alam sessions court for another charge.
In the Kuala Lumpur sessions court, he had claimed trial to two counts of graft involving two watches worth RM92,980 from a contractor, whose name was withheld by the court.
On the first charge, he had solicited for an IWC watch worth RM32,980 from the contractor, as payment to help his oil and gas engineering company obtain a letter of award for the subcontract of the Kumang & Tangga Barat Cluster Development Project (Phase 1).
The offence was committed at about 2.30pm at The Hour Glass Sdn Bhd at Lot 10 Shopping Complex in Jalan Sultan Ismail here on March 13, 2009.
On the second charge, Md Zaki agreed to receive a Hublot watch worth RM60,000 from the same contractor to help approve and expedite progress payments in relation to a contract at Sime Darby Engineering, Pasir Gudang and to help the same company obtain a letter of award as a subcontractor for the Kumang & Tangga project.
He committed the offence at about 10am on May 15, 2009 at the same place.
Md Zaki's counsel Harvinderjit Singh, who appeared with S. C. Tey, immediately filed for a stay of execution, pending appeal to the Court of Appeal, which was allowed by Ab Karim.