A former senior manager of Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) pleaded not guilty in Sessions Court here today to three counts of accepting bribes amounting to RM170,477 in 2015 and 2018.

Zaharuddin Hamid, 47, a former TH senior technical manager (Property Development Section), made the plea after the charges were read out to him by an interpreter before Judge Rozina Ayob.

He was accused of receiving the bribes from Yusaidi Mohd through Amaneez Creative Solution company using a cheque deposited into the Maybank account belonging to his sister, Zanita Hamid, amounting to RM170,477, as an inducement for helping two companies, Consoline Sdn Bhd and MNB Engineering Sdn Bhd, to secure the renovation works at the Ipoh TH office, Perak and three other TH offices in Johor, namely, in Muar, Batu Pahat and Kluang.

He was accused of committing the offences at Maybank in Desa Pandan, here, between Oct 5, 2015 and May 24, 2018.

He was charged under Section 17 (a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, punishable under Section 24 of the same law which carries maximum imprisonment of 20 years and a fine not less than five times the amount of gratification or RM10,000, or whichever is higher, upon conviction.

Earlier, MACC deputy public prosecutor Abdul Rashid Sulaiman offered the accused a bail of RM100,000 in one surety and several additional conditions.

The accused, represented by lawyer M. Athimulan, appealed for a lower bail at RM40,000 on the grounds that he had given good cooperation to the MACC.

The court allowed the accused a RM50,000 bail in one surety for all the charges and the accused was also ordered to surrender his passport to the court and to report at the Kuala Lumpur MACC headquarters once a month until the disposal of the case.

The court also set Sept 22 for mention. - BERNAMA