Petronas senior manager acquitted of bribery

KUALA LUMPUR: A Petronas senior manager was acquitted by the Sessions Court here Monday of bribery involving the supply of Natural Gas Liquid (NGL) to a petro-chemical company.

Judge Ahmad Zamzani Mohd Zain acquitted and discharged Ishak Hashim, 49, ruling that the defence had raised reasonable doubt.

He added that the defence had overcome statutory presumption under Section 42 of the Anti-Corruption Act 1997 that Ishak had not received the monies with a guilty mind.

Ishak had in July 2013 claimed trial to two counts of receiving RM22,800 in bribes from Erision Chem Sdn Bhd's directors Choo Ka Ckye as inducement to supply 124 lorries worth of NGL to Erision Chem.

Ishak was also charged with two counts of soliciting bribes from Choo and fellow Erision Chem director Abdul Khair Walli Mohamed, in the form of an RM200 payment for each lorry of NGL provided.

The alleged bribes were made in 2008, while Ishak was acting in his capacity as Petronas logistics manager for gathering of crude oil.

Judge Ahmad Zamzani ruled that there was a significant difference between receiving and soliciting a bribe, and the prosecution failed to prove elements of both offences individually.

He found that Ishak's testimony to be sound and not mere denial.

However, the judge found the Erision Chem directors' testimony for the prosecution to be questionable due to contradicting information provided.

After the hearing, Ishak was seen hugging and thanking his lawyer before meeting his wife and friends, who had attended the hearing.

Ishak was represented by lawyer Jesvinder Singh, while Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission prosecuting officer Wan Ahmad Nidzam Wan Omar acted for the prosecution.