MACC senior officer charged with CBT involving US$6.94 million

KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) senior enforcement officer was charged in the Sessions Court today with committing criminal breach of trust involving US$6.94 million.

Shahrum Nizam Baharuddin, 41, pleaded not guilty after the charge against him was read before Judge Suzana Hussin.

Shahrum Nizam, in his capacity as a civil servant, - Grade P44 senior superintendent - who has been entrusted with the monies was accused of committing criminal breach of trust involving the said monies.

The offence was allegedly committed between Dec 17, 2018, and April 9, 2019 at the Special Action Branch division chief's room at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters, Putrajaya.

The charge was framed under Section 409 of the Penal Code, which carries imprisonment a maximum jail term of 20 years with whipping and a fine, upon conviction.

Deputy public prosecutor Wan Shahruddin Wan Ladin urged the court not to allow bail saying that the accused had committed a serious offence that involved a large sum of money and the case had also received wide media coverage.

"However, if the court decides to impose bail, we ask for it to be set at RM10 million with three sureties," he said.

According to Wan Shaharuddin, the accused will also be charged with 101 counts of money laundering soon.

In the mitigation, lawyer K. Ponnusamy representing Shahrum Nizam pleaded for a minimum bail, saying that his client was still working as a civil servant and had given his full cooperation throughout the investigation.

"My client who is married and has two kids, also suffers from a slipped disc and nose cancer," he said.

The court did not allow bail for the accused and fixed Feb 18 for case mention.

Previously, MACC confirmed that three of its senior officers had been detained to assist in investigations into allegations of abuse of power and misconduct in the case of former Director of the Malaysian External Intelligence Organisation (MEIO) Datuk Hasanah Abdul Hamid.

On April 12, 2021, the Kuala Lumpur High Court has granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal in her criminal breach of trust case involving over US$12.1 million (RM50.4 million) belonging to the Malaysian government.

-- BERNAMA