Mohd Arif and son charged with graft
Duo said to have accepted RM600,000 bribe
KUALA LUMPUR: Former Rural and Regional Development Ministry secretarygeneral Datuk Mohd Arif Ab Rahman has been charged in the Sessions Court here with abetting his eldest son in accepting a S$200,000 (RM600,000) bribe.
Mohd Arif, 60, is accused of abetting his son Ahmad Zukhairi Mohd Arif by accepting the bribe from Syarikat Wazlina Sdn Bhd director Mohd Safian Mohd Salleh.
The bribe was an inducement for a hybrid solar system project in four remote islands off Sandakan, Sabah, worth RM57.5mil which was awarded to Syarikat Eramaz ( M) Sdn Bhd, an associate company of Syarikat Wazlina.
Ahmad Zukhairi, 35, is facing a charge of accepting the money from the same person for himself and his father.
The offence under Section 16(a) (B) of the Malaysian AntiCorruption Act was allegedly committed at Royal Lake Club, Jalan Cenderamulia here, between 4pm and 7pm on Aug 23, last year.
Mohd Arif and Ahmad Zukhairi arrived at the courtroom at 9.30am accompanied by family members and Malaysian AntiCorruption Commission (MACC) officers.
Both father and son claimed trial before judge Azura Alwi yesterday.
MACC deputy public prosecutor Thangavelu A. Suppiah offered bail at RM1mil each.
He also asked for a joint trial at the Shah Alam Sessions Court as it involved the same transaction and witnesses.
Azura fixed bail at RM200,000 in one surety each with a land grant as security pending mention on March 20. She also ordered their passports to be surrendered to the court.
Ahmad Zukhairi also claimed trial to two other counts of graft at the Sessions Court in Shah Alam.
He was charged with accepting RM70,000 and RM50,000 bribes from one Zul Fadli Rozi as an inducement for helping Syarikat HH Global Construction Sdn Bhd to secure a proposed project to build a threetiered recreational square and related work valued at about RM3.2mil at Tasik Pengkalan Gawi, Tasik Kenyir, Hulu Terengganu.
Sessions Court judge Asmadi Hussin did not set any bail as it was already posted earlier in the day when Ahmad Zukhairi was charged at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court with his father.