They are accused of receiving payments totalling RM121,000
KUALA LUMPUR: Two senior officials from the Department of Environment have been charged in the Sessions Court over bribery totalling RM121,000.
The department’s director-general, Datuk Wan Abdul Latiff Wan Jaffar, 59, claimed trial before Sessions Court judge Suzana Hussin to a charge involving RM100,000 linked to a proposed road project in Penang.
“Understood, not guilty,” he said yesterday.
Wan Abdul Latiff is accused of corruptly receiving RM100,000 from Sunrich Conquest Sdn Bhd director Khor Chong Hai, through the company’s project manager Lee Ham Kong, as an inducement to consider exempting an environmental impact assessment report for the project.
The proposed development involved government land at Jalan Bukit Kukus, Paya Terubong, Penang. The offence was allegedly committed at the department’s office in Putrajaya on Jan 15.
He was charged under Section 16(a)(B) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine of no less than five times the amount of the bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
Deputy public prosecutor Datuk Ahmad Akram Gharib proposed bail at RM100,000, citing flight risk concerns.
Defence counsel Mohd Firdaus Ahmad sought a lower bail of between RM20,000 and RM30,000, noting that his client has three children still studying, two of whom are in university, while his wife is a homemaker.
“My client is not a flight risk as he has cooperated with the authorities. He was remanded from Jan 29 to Feb 3 and later returned to the MACC on March 2 to give his statement,” he said.
Judge Suzana set bail at RM40,000 with one surety and ordered the accused to surrender his passport. The case is fixed for mention on May 7.
In a separate proceeding, Wan Abdul Latiff’s deputy, Dr Norhazni Mat Sari, 59, pleaded not guilty to six charges of receiving a total of RM21,000 without consideration through her daughter’s bank account.
According to the charge sheets, she allegedly received six transfers – RM1,000, RM1,000, RM2,000, RM2,000, RM5,000 and RM10,000 – from a company director known to have dealings related to her official duties.
The offences were allegedly committed at a bank in Bukit Bintang between April 18, 2022, and April 19, 2024.
She was charged under Section 165 of the Penal Code, which provides for a maximum sentence of two years’ imprisonment, a fine, or both, upon conviction.
The prosecution and defence agreed on bail of RM25,000, with the prosecution also seeking for Norhazni’s passport to be impounded.
Defence counsel Haresh Mahadevan, however, requested that her passport not be impounded, citing scheduled work-related meetings in Geneva, Switzerland, from June 16 to 26.
Sessions Court judge Azura Alwi allowed bail at RM25,000 and ordered the accused to surrender her passport. The case is set for mention on May 19.
