IPOH: A marine police corporal was charged in the Sessions Court here today with 43 counts of accepting bribes amounting to RM146,350 between 2016 and 2019.
Zubairi Abdul Mutalib, 60, however, pleaded not guilty to all the charges after they were read out before judge Priscilla Hemamalini.
Zubairi, who is head of PSC 16 Patrol Vessel Machinery at the Marine Police Base in Kg Acheh, Sitiawan, was charged with obtaining bribes amounting to RM146,350 through money transfers from the saving account belonging to Lim Mee Lan as an inducement not to take action against the owner of 18 vessels which had committed offences under the Fisheries Act 1985.
He was alleged to have committed the offence at Sitiawan Maybank branch between May 1, 2016 and July 30, 2019.
The charge, under Section 17(a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 and punishable under Section 24(1) of the same Act, provides for a jail term of up to 20 years and a fine of RM10,000 or not less than five times the amount of the bribe, whichever is higher.
Priscilla allowed Zubairi bail of RM25,000 in one surety for all charges.
The prosecution was conducted by deputy public prosecutor from MACC, Nurul Wahida Jalaluddin while the accused was represented by lawyer Muhammad Aizat Fakri.
Zubairi is expected to be charged for another 101 similar charges tomorrow. — Bernama
