SHAH ALAM: A former private secretary to a former minister was brought to the sessions court here again today and was charged with six counts of soliciting and accepting gratification totalling RM106,500 to help a company to secure an advertising tender under the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry.
Mohd Saifullah Mohd Minggu @ Mohd Hashim, 29, pleaded not guilty to all the charges after they were read out before judge Rozilah Salleh.
He was alleged to have committed the offences at several locations, namely Temasya Anggun, Glenmarie here, Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya, Dengkil, Sepang and in Bandar Puteri, Puchong, between Dec 21, 2018 and March 30, 2019.
On three of the charges, Mohd Saifullah was charged with accepting RM90,000 from the owner of Inter Bev Network Sdn Bhd, Ronald Seto Kong Seng, through one Roslan Lahada, as an inducement to help secure the tender “Perkhidmatan Penghasilan Penjenamaan dan Kreatif Untuk Kempen Pengiklanan Tourism Malaysia” and “Perkhidmatan Pembelian Ruang Iklan Bagi Pasaran Negara-Negara Asia Utara dan Asia Timur Tourism Malaysia” for the company.
On the fourth to the sixth count, Mohd Saifullah was charged with soliciting and accepting RM16,500 from Ronald Seto, also through Roslan, for deposit payment and rental of a house at Vipod Residences, No. 6, Jalan Kia Peng in Kuala Lumpur.
All the charges were framed under Section 16 (a) (B) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009, which provides an imprisonment for up to 20 years and fine of not less than five times the amount of the gratification, or RM10,000, whichever is higher, if found guilty.
The prosecution, conducted by deputy public prosecutor Muhammad Asyraf Mohamed Tahir then requested for the case to be transferred to the Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur to be heard jointly with another of Mohd Saifullah’s case there, involving 18 similar charges.
He also requested to apply the RM200,000 bail in one surety imposed by the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court.
Rozilah allowed the prosecution’s application and also ordered Mohd Saifullah, represented by lawyer Md Yunos Shariff, to surrender his passport to the court, as well as to report himself at the nearest MACC office on the first week of every month.
Last Aug 19, Mohd Saifullah had pleaded not guilty in the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court to 18 counts of accepting and soliciting bribes amounting to RM3,129,015, from a company owner to secure an advertising tender under the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry. — Bernama
