KUALA LUMPUR: Two top-ranking company officials have been hauled to the Sessions Court here for alleged graft and cheating offences in separate cases, amounting to over RM3.45mil in total.
In the first case, Prolintas chief operating officer (COO) Rostam Shahrif Tami claimed trial for accepting an RM70,000 bribe linked to a highway work project.
The 59-year-old pleaded not guilty after the charge was read out before Sessions Court judge Rosli Ahmad here yesterday.
According to the charge sheet, Rostam allegedly received the bribe from a representative of Satunas Technologies Sdn Bhd as an inducement to award a work project titled ‘To Construct End Cap Stressing And Shear Block and To Instal Expansion Joint Including Hacking, Grouting and Nosing’ for the Sungai Besi-Ulu Kelang Elevated Expressway (SUKE), to the company.
Rostam was the superintending officer’s representative for the SUKE privatisation project.
The offence was allegedly committed at the parking lot of a mosque in Kampung Datuk Keramat, on April 12, 2023.
Rostam was charged under Section 16(a)(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009.
He faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of no less than five times the amount of gratification or RM10,000, whichever is higher, if convicted.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Nor Diana Nor Azwa offered bail at RM60,000 in one surety.
Lawyer Tan Sri Dzulkifli Ahmad, who represented Rostam, did not object to the bail amount.
The court fixed bail at RM60,000 and ordered Rostam to surrender his passport. The case is set for mention on Feb 27.
At the same court, former CEO of Johor’s water company Ranhill SAJ Sdn Bhd claimed trial to two counts of cheating the company of RM3.38mil for non-existent community projects.
Muhamad Faizal Aliar, 39, pleaded not guilty to both charges after they were read out.
According to the first charge sheet, he allegedly deceived Ranhill SAJ into making an RM82,500 payment for “Program Imarah Ramadan 2023” when the event did not take place.
For the second charge sheet, he allegedly deceived Ranhill SAJ into donating RM3.3mil for “Program Prihatin Komuniti Madani 2023”, an event which also did not take place.
Both payments were allegedly channelled into a Maybank account belonging to Pertubuhan Inspirasi Prihatin Malaysia, whereby Ranhill SAJ would not have made the payments if it had not been deceived to do so.
The offences were allegedly committed at Menara Felda Platinum Park here on April 13 and April 14, 2023.
Muhamad Faizal was charged under Section 420 of the Penal Code and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, whipping and a fine if convicted.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Muhammad Asraf Mohamed Tahir offered bail at RM200,000 for both counts.
Muhamad Faizal’s lawyer, S. Preakas, asked for a lower bail of RM50,000 for the charges.
He told the court that Muhamad Faizal is a father of four children including two who have special needs.
“My client is now unemployed and undergoing treatment for his spinal cord injury,” Preakas said.
The lawyer also said Muhamad Faizal cooperated with the authorities during the investigation.
Judge Rosli fixed bail at RM100,000 bail in one surety for both charges. The case is set for mention on March 3.
Meanwhile, Prolintas said in a statement that it upheld a strict zero-tolerance policy against breaches of integrity and governance.
Referring to the charges made against Rostam yesterday and Zairulnizam Rohani on Jan 23, it said both were affiliated with Turnpike Synergy Sdn Bhd, the company in charge of the construction of SUKE.
It said both have been placed on leave of absence since July 9 and July 16 last year, respectively, Bernama reported.
Zairulnizam, 47, was charged in Johor Baru with three counts of accepting RM50,000 in bribes in exchange for assisting a company to secure a highway construction project.
