EX-FORESTRY DIRECTOR JAILED
Received RM60,000 in bribes in 2013 to approve logging rights for firm
FORMER state Forestry Department director Datuk Azmi Nordin, 59, was sentenced to three years’ jail by the Sessions Court on three counts of receiving bribes totalling RM60,000 between March and August 2013.
He was fined RM30,000, in default 18 months’ jail, for the offences.
Judge Mohammad Haldar Abdul Aziz sentenced Azmi to a year’s jail on each of the charges after finding the accused guilty under Section 165 of the Penal Code, but ordered the sentences to run concurrently.
However, he was allowed a stay of the sentence following a request by his counsel, Mohd Hayyatuddin Muhamad, pending an appeal.
In the first count, Azmi was accused of receiving RM30,000 from logging contractor Yew Keong Fah, 49, at a Maybank branch here on March 3, 2013.
In the second count, Azmi was found guilty of receiving RM20,000 from an unnamed individual at a Bank Islam branch here on June 16, 2013, while in the third count he was accused of receiving RM10,000 from the same unnamed person at the same place on Aug 13 that year.
He was accused of receiving the bribes as inducement to approve logging rights for Ciri Bina Machinery & Hardware Sdn Bhd at Compartments 36b and 40a of the Hulu Terengganu forest reserve.
Deputy public prosecutor Farah Yasmin Salleh appeared for the prosecution.