KUALA LUMPUR, March 24 — The High Court here today ordered former Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) senior deputy director Sabudin Mohd Salleh to defend himself on two charges of obtaining a bribe amounting to RM200,000 for the issuance of work permits.
Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan made the decision after allowing the prosecution’s appeal to set aside the Sessions Court’s decision here on December 18, 2020, which acquitted and freed Sabudin from the two charges.
“The appeal is allowed, the decision of the Sessions Court has been set aside and the case is back with the Sessions Court for the respondent (Sabudin) to defend himself,” said Judge Mohamed Zaini.
The case was conducted by deputy public prosecutors Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin, Natrah Fareha Rahmat and Mohd Shahrom Idris while lawyer K. Theivaendran represented Sabudin.
A total of six prosecution witnesses were called to testify at the trial.
Sabudin, 60, who was then senior deputy director at the DBKL Civil Engineering and Urban Transport division was charged with corruptly receiving a bribe of RM200,000 in cash from Wong May Kuan, a subcontractor of Dusari Niaga tasked with grinding and resurfacing works for Kuala Lumpur City Hall for the Year 2018/2020 (2017/A214) as an inducement for him to issue work permits to Dusari Niaga.
He was charged with committing the offences at a petrol station convenience store at Jalan Lingkaran Tengah 2, Bukit Antarabangsa here, and in front of his residence in Ukay Perdana, Ampang, on June 9, 2018, and January 17, 2019, respectively.
The charges were framed under Section 17 (a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 (Act 694) which is punishable under Section 24 (1) of the same act, which provides for a maximum jail term of 20 years and a fine of five times the bribe amount or RM10,000 whichever is higher if convicted.
— Bernama
