KOTA KINABALU: A deputy director of a government department was charged in the Sessions Court here today on 46 counts of corruption and abuse of power involving RM55,020 between 2019 and 2021.
Mahriyatty Bahrin, 42, who is a grade J44 civil engineer at the Sabah State Contractor Service Centre pleaded not guilty to all the charges before Judge Abu Bakar Manat.
According to the charge sheet, Mahriyatty faces 19 charges framed under Section 17 (a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, four charges under Section 16 (a) (B) of the MACC Act 2009, and one charge each under Section 18 of the MACC Act 2009 and Section 23 of the MACC Act 2009.
Mahriyatty faces imprisonment for a term not exceeding 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the value of the bribe or RM10,000 - whichever is higher - if convicted.
Apart from that, she also faces 21 charges under Section 165 of the Penal Code which if convicted can be sentenced to a maximum of two years imprisonment or a fine, or both.
She was accused of corruptly obtaining a bribe as an inducement to approve the Bumiputera Status Certificate (STB) for several contractors in the state.
All the offences were allegedly committed at the Maybank Sipitang Branch at Lot 25 & 26 Sipitang Shopping Centre, Jalan Hj A. H. Tengah, 89850 Sipitang and Maybank Karamunsing Branch, Maybank Building, No 1, Lorong Kemajuan, Karamunsing, in the Kota Kinabalu district from 2019 to 2021.
The court then set bail at RM25,000 and a local surety in addition to the condition of reporting to the Kota Kinabalu MACC office once in two months.
The prosecution was conducted by prosecuting officer Nurul Izzati Sapifee while the accused was represented by lawyer Zahir Hussien Ahmad Shah and the court fixed July 21 for case re-mention. - Bernama
