KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 4): Datuk Seri Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin, the former senior political secretary to the prime minister, has been charged with taking bribes totalling nearly RM177,000 on Thursday.

He pleaded not guilty to the four charges read out to him by the court registrar before Sessions court judge Suzana Hussin. The charges involve bribes of RM176,829.03 in cash, furniture and electrical appliances.

Under the first charge, Shamsul, 51, had allegedly received a bribe of RM100,000 from businessman Albert Tei Jiann Cheng on Nov 24 in 2023 at the parking area of YTL Majestic Hotel in KL.

He allegedly received the cash “as an inducement to perform an act” to assist Tei’s companies to obtain approval for mineral exploration licences in the state of Sabah, even though the actions are not related to his day-to-day duty, according to the charge sheet.

In the second charge, Shamsul was accused of receiving RM14,580.03 worth of electronic items and furniture from Tei between Dec 7, 2023 and Jan 31, 2024. Shamsul was also alleged in the third charge to have received a bribe of RM40,000 on Jan, 29 2024 at Jalan Medang Serai in Kuala Lumpur.

Shamsul was also charged with receiving RM22,249 from Albert in electronic items and furniture for the mineral exploration licences in Sabah between Feb 26, 2024 and Mar 5, 2024.

All of the charges were framed under Section 17(a) of the MACC Act, which deals with the offence of receiving bribes.

“I plead not guilty and I want to claim trial,” Shamsul replied to each charge as it was read out to him.

If found guilty, Shamsul faces imprisonment of up to 20 years, a fine of at least five times the amount or value of the gratification involved in the offence, or a combination of both.

After arguments by the public prosecutor and Shamsul’s lawyer, Shamsul’s bail was set at RM150,000. He is also required to surrender his passport to the court and will have to report once every month to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

Tei was also charged in connection with the bribes to Shamsul and pleaded not guilty to the four counts of bribery.

His charges were framed under Section 17(b) of the MACC Act, which deals with giving bribes.

If found guilty, Tei also faces imprisonment of up to 20 years, a fine of at least five times the amount or value of the gratification involved in the offence, or a combination of both.

Tei’s bail was set at RM70,000 by Suzana. He was also ordered to surrender his passport to the court and will have to report once every month to the MACC.

Datuk Ahmad Akram Gharib, Farah Ezlin Yusop Khan and Nurul Qistini Qamarul Abrar prosecuted for the government.

Shamsul was represented by lawyers Datuk Amer Hamzah Arshad and Joshua Tay from Amerbon Associates and Mohd Yusmadi Mohd Yusoff from Fahda Nur and Yusmadi Advocates and Solicitors. Latheefa Koya from Lawyers for Liberty represented Tei.

Farah had argued that Shamsul’s bail should be set at RM300,000 and for his passport to be surrendered to the court as the charges were serious offences.

In seeking a high bail amount, she argued that there would be a chance for him to tamper with the witnesses because he had a high position in the government.

Amer, however, sought a lower sum of RM50,000 as his client is not a flight risk after turning himself to authorities and making a police report to deny the allegations. He also argued that it was unfair for the prosecution to say that Shamsul may tamper with witnesses.

Yusmadi added that his client had also immediately stepped down as the prime minister’s senior political secretary when news broke.

Farah also requested the court to set a “reasonable” bail of RM300,000, pointing to his lack of cooperation during investigations and the likelihood that he could flee, given his business interests in Singapore.

Latheefa vehemently denied the assertion and argued that Tei was, in fact, an “informant” in the case. She noted that the charges stemmed from information her client provided and that he had voluntarily attended interviews with investigators multiple times.