Housewife charged with 40 counts of conspiring in bribe case

A housewife pleaded not guilty in the Sessions Court here today to 40 counts of conspiring with her husband in a bribery case involving RM1 million.

Norlaila Puteh, 35, made the plea before judge Murtazadi Amran.

On all the charges, the woman was alleged to have conspired with her husband, Mohd Azurine Che Bahadom, who was the Sales Head at Nitori (M) Sdn Bhd then, with receiving bribes, in the form of 40 cheques, each amounting to RM25,000, from a company, Ga Yee Furniture, which was deposited into her bank account.

The money, totaling RM1 million, was as an inducement for Mohd Azurine to retain Ga Yee Furniture as the main furniture supplier to Nitori Japan.

The offences were allegedly committed between Oct 9, 2013 and Feb 13, 2017 at the Alor Setar branch Ambank, Wisma Landag, Jalan Kota here.

Norlaila is charged under Section 28(1)(b) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 and faced an imprisonment for up to 20 years and fine of not less than five times the sum or value of the bribe, or RM10,000, whichever is higher, if found guilty.

The woman, who has a two-year-old child, is allowed bail of RM100,000 in one surety.

Deputy public prosecutor from MACC Tan Sew Ping prosecuted, while lawyer K.Paramanathan represented Norlaila.

-- BERNAMA