SEREMBAN: A Customs officer claimed trial at the Sessions Court here to 43 charges of allegedly accepting bribes totalling some RM70,000 over a five-year period.
Mohammad Zyed Ibrahim, 41 pleaded not guilty after the charges were read to him before Judge Meor Sulaiman Ahmad Tarmizi.
The interpreter took almost an hour to read the charges to the accused who allegedly committed the offences between 2017 and 2022.
He was charged with accepting RM69,350 in bribes during the period.
He allegedly committed the offences between Sept 16, 2017 and Jan 16, 2022 at a bank in Nilai.
The accused allegedly received bribes from a company owner via online transfers.
The bribes were allegedly given so that lorries belonging to the company were not checked when they left the KLIA Cargo complex.
Mohammad Zyed was charged under Section 17(a) and Section 24 of the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission Act 2009 punishable under Section 24(1) of the same act.
Offenders can be jailed for up to 20 years and fined not less than five times the amount of the bribe.
Deputy public prosecutor Muhammad Asraf Mohamed Tahir did not offer bail as the accused's actions were tantamount to public betrayal and gave a bad name to Customs.
"This is a serious offence and the prosecution feels the accused is also a flight risk.
"The accused had failed to contact or surrender to the MACC although notices had been made in the media," he said.
Muhammad Asraf said the accused was only detained about 65 days later
The accused, he said was detained at his mother's house in Bintulu on May 7.
His lawyer, Muhamad Aizat Fakri appealed for bail as the accused was a single father to a five-year-old child.
He said the accused had been working as an e-hailing driver and also had to provide for his mother and a brother with mental illness.
"The accused did not run away to Bintulu as that is his hometown.
"He merely went back to look after his mother and brother," he said.
Judge Meor Sulaiman agreed with the prosecution and refused to offer bail to the accused.
The court then fixed June 14 for remention.
