JOHOR BARU: A Road Transport Department (JPJ) assistant enforcement employee was charged with accepting bribes amounting to RM27,600 from a logistics company over a span of four years.

Ahmad Jamil Md Saru, 40, pleaded not guilty to the four charges read before Sessions Court Judge Ahmad Kamal Arifin Ismail here on Wednesday (Aug 17).

Ahmad Jamil, who is still attached with the Muar JPJ branch, was first charged with accepting RM6,000 from one PP Vijayan, the general manager of Syarikat Sivan Sakhti Maju Enterprise, via online bank transfer as an inducement not to take action on the company’s lorries under the Road Transport Act 1987.

He was said to have committed that offence from Jan 26, 2016, until Dec 25 of the same year.

The accused was also charged with accepting a bribe of RM7,600 from Jan 30, 201,7 until Dec 23, 2017, followed by RM11,000 from Jan 27, 2018, until Dec 26, 2018, and RM3,000 from Jan 27, 2019, until March 24, 2019, from the same company for the same reason.

Ahmad Jamil was charged under Section 17(a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, which carries a maximum jail term of 20 years or a fine of up to five times the bribe amount or RM10,000, or whichever amount is higher.

MACC deputy public prosecutor Irwan Shah Abdul Samat requested for a bail amount of RM6,000 for all four charges with one surety, which was granted by the court.

Judge Ahmad Kamal Arifin also ordered the accused to surrender his passport and report to the Melaka MACC office once a month for the duration of the case.

He then set Sept 20 for next mention and surrender of documents and advised the accused to hire a legal representation in the meantime.

It was reported on July 5 that the accused was brought to the Melaka Sessions Court, where he was charged with accepting a monthly bribe payment of RM500 from the same company as inducement not to take actions against its lorries.

Ahmad Jamil also pleaded not guilty to all 12 charges which involved a total of RM8,500.