KUANTAN: The Sessions Court here on Monday (June 29) ordered former Temerloh OCPD Mohd Azhar Mohd Yusoff to enter his defence on 46 charges of receiving bribes totalling RM69,600 without consideration, allegedly committed between March 2019 and January 2023, Sinar Harian reports.
Judge Sazlina Safie made the order after finding that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against Mohd Azhar, 56, at the close of the prosecution’s case, the Malay language daily reported.
In her judgment, Sazlina said the court found that all 46 charges brought against the accused were properly framed and valid, and did not contravene Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code or Article 8 of the Federal Constitution.
She said the court was satisfied that the prosecution had established a prima facie case after making a maximum evaluation of the entire prosecution case, including the testimony of 20 prosecution witnesses.
“The court also ruled that the presumption under Section 53 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act applies to the accused,” she said.
The court then fixed Aug 19 for the defence to begin, and Mohd Azhar chose to give sworn testimony from the witness stand.
On Sept 7, 2023, Mohd Azhar pleaded not guilty to all charges of receiving bribes without consideration, allegedly received via online fund transfer transactions into a bank account linked to his official duties as a senior police officer at the Temerloh district police headquarters (IPD).
The offences allegedly involved receiving sums ranging from RM100 to RM5,600 from four individuals as an inducement to protect them from enforcement action by the Royal Malaysia Police over various offences.
The prosecution was conducted by MACC deputy public prosecutors Mohamad Fadhly Mohd Zamry and Ifa Sirrhu Samsudin, while the accused was represented by lawyers Datuk Bob S. Arumugam and M. Athimulan, Sinar Harian reported.
