Army officer pleads not guilty to nine counts of corruption, abusing position

An army officer with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel was charged in the Sessions Court here today with nine counts of accepting bribe and abusing his position, involving RM95,794.

Shaharil Hisham Abdul Razak, 57, then the Staff Officer1 (Zone Head) at the East Zone maintenance Office (Pahang) of the Facility Maintenance and Management Branch, Defence Engineering Service Division, Batu 3 Camp, Temerloh near here, pleaded not guilty to all the charges before judge Datuk Habibah Mohamed Yusof.

He was charged with abusing his position in recommending his family company, Abd Razak Am Enterprise, to be appointed to carry out maintenance work, worth RM30,000, at BPKP Office, 11 Skuadron RAJD Mekanis, Temerloh, on Nov 20, 2015, at his office.

He was also charged with recommending the same company, which belonged to his father, Abd Razak Awang Mahusain, his wife, Rosnahni Hussin and brother, Muhamad Helmi Abd Razak, to do maintenance work at two building blocks of the Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) Intelligence College in Mentakab near here on April 12, 2016.

The recommendations were submitted to the Director-General, Defence Engineering Service Division of the Defence Ministry, Brigadier General Datuk Abu Sufian Ahmad.

The charges were made under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 , which is punishable under Section 24 of the same law and carries an imprisonment for up to 20 years and fine of not less than five time the amount of the gratification, or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.

Shaharil Hisham, from Taman Sri Bahagia, Temerloh, was also charged with accepting bribes, totalling RM20,794, from seven contractors between Nov 16 and Dec 22, 2016, which was deposited into Rosnahni's bank account at the Bukit Ubi branch of the Malayan Banking Berhad.

The charge, under Section 165 of the Penal Code, provides an imprisonment for up to two years, or fine, or both, if found guilty.

Deputy public prosecutor from MACC Mohamad Fadhly Mohd Zamri, who prosecuted, offered bail at RM20,000 in one surety for all charges.

However, lawyer Aiman As'ad Mohd Ghani, representing Shaharil Hisham, said his client was now a government retiree with a monthly pension of RM5,000 and had a family of five children, and an ailing father, to support.

Habibah then set bail at RM14,000 in one surety for all charges and fixed July 4 for mention.

Shaharil Hisham posted the bail.

-- BERNAMA