KUALA LUMPUR: 14 senior Customs officers have been charged in the Sessions Court with 49 counts of accepting bribes totalling more than RM70,000 (S$27,000) as an inducement not to take action over the smuggling of liquor.
The latest charges brings to 28 the number of Customs personnel accused of taking bribes.
Customs assistant superintendent Mahadir Mohamad, 37, was charged with six counts of receiving RM5,000 in bribes from an individual as an inducement not to inspect a warehouse in the Port Klang Free Zone.
Kamarul Asmady Ismail, 37, assistant superintendent at the intelligence unit of the Customs headquarters in Putrajaya, faces four counts of accepting RM4,900 in bribes from the same individual.
Customs assistant superintendent Mohamed Rozlan Ibrahim was charged with two counts of accepting RM1,000 in bribes.
Som Chit Tiang, 48, senior assistant director at the Customs special investigation division in Putrajaya, was charged with four counts of accepting bribes, amounting to RM11,000.
Customs assistant superintendent Sahbandi Abdul Manap @ Asly, 36, was charged with soliciting RM300 in bribes via his cellphone.
Jamaludin Zamzam, 54, Senior Assistant Director II of the technical service unit at the Selangor Customs Department, was accused of receiving a RM1,000 bribe, which was placed on the dashboard of his car.
Two other officers, Amran Ismail and Abdul Rahman Ahmad, both 35, were accused of five and two counts of accepting RM7,500 and RM500 in bribes respectively.
In Shah Alam, assistant superintendent Muhamad Helmi Burhanudin, 37, of the Selangor Customs enforcement unit, was charged with seven counts of accepting RM14,000 in bribes.
Wan Azman Wan Ali, 47, Senior Assistant Director II of the warehouse division at the Kuala Lumpur Customs Department was charged with five counts of receiving bribes totalling RM10,000.
Kuala Lumpur Customs director Datuk Mohd Isa Endot, 55, was charged with four counts of accepting bribes, amounting to RM8,000, while assistant superintendent Muhamad Fauzi Kamsar, 33, was accused of three counts of accepting bribes, totalling RM4,200.
Customs superintendent Shamsul Anwar Mohd, 34, and senior officer Azlee Mohamed Yusof, 48, of the Kuala Lumpur enforcement unit, were jointly charged with accepting a RM3,000 bribe.
Jamaludin was accused of receiving a RM1,000 bribe while Mohamed Rozlan was charged with two counts of accepting RM2,200 in bribes.
The offences were allegedly committed at Bukit Tinggi, the Customs director’s office, the Giant hypermarket parking area, a restaurant in Kelana Jaya and the OldTown White Coffee Restaurant in Subang Jaya.
All claimed trial to the charges and have surrendered their passports to the court.
Bail has been set at between RM5,000 and RM25,000.
