Suspended Bank Negara exec charged with receiving bribes

KUALA LUMPUR: A suspended Bank Negara executive was charged in a Sessions Court here with five counts of receiving bribes amounting to RM26,985 from two directors for various jobs. 

Mahathir Shahabudin, 51, from the Property and Services department’s Housekeeping Unit, claimed trial to all charges. 

He was said to have accepted RM300 through his bank account from First Choices Services director Anuar Paharudin as an inducement to retain the company’s “Garbage Disposal” contract job at Maybank’s city branch in Jalan Tun Perak at 2.06pm on Nov 18, 2005. 

He was accused of obtaining RM300 through his bank account from Anuar to avoid any problem for the same contract job at the same place at 4.47pm on Dec 2, 2005. 

Mahathir was alleged to have accepted RM800 through his bank account from Anuar for the same purpose at the same bank at 1pm on Oct 20, 2005. 

He faces a fourth charge of getting RM8,575 in a bribe through a cheque in his name deposited into his same bank account from Indramuz Sdn Bhd director Azhar Ibrahim at the same bank on Dec 30, 2005. The cheque is believed to have been an inducement to call the company to do the carpet cleaning jobs at Bank Negara. 

Mahathir was said to have accepted RM17,010 in a bribe through a cheque in a similar way from Azhar for the same purpose at the same place on Feb 16, 2006. 

If found guilty, he can be jailed up to 20 years and fined five times the amount of the bribe for each charge under Section 16 of the Anti-Corruption Act 1997. 

The accused had on May 29 last year claimed trial at the Ampang Sessions Court to eight similar bribery charges. The trial is set for two days from July 24. 

On Friday, DPP Mohd Asnawi Abu Hanipah asked the court to set Mahathir's bail at RM10,000 for all five charges. 

Pleading for lower bail, lawyer A. Vasudevan said his client had to support his two children who are still studying at a university and a secondary school respectively. 

Vasudevan said his client was only earning RM1,700 per month after being suspended from his Bank Negara job. 

Sessions Court judge Mohamad Sekeri Mamat set Mahathir's bail at RM10,000 for all charges and fixed two days from Aug 13 for his trial. 

Vasudevan also applied to the court to be supplied with all documents for preparation of the case. 

The judge said the defence could deal with the prosecution for the purpose to avoid any delay of the trial.

--THE STAR