KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 28): Former human resources minister Datuk Seri M Saravanan has been charged with allegedly receiving over RM1 million in bribes for approving foreign worker quotas for a local company back in 2022.
The deputy president of the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) was slapped with three charges of receiving monies from a Tan Teck Lim, in his capacity as director of Vectica Resources Sdn Bhd as an incentive to approve the quota of 1,000 foreign workers for TYKB Engineering Sdn Bhd.
All three charges alleged that the monies were received through a Syed Amirul Syed Ahmad in the form of cash and a cheque. Saravanan was accused of committing the offence from June 2022 till July 2022 while he was still heading the Human Resources Ministry.
The 58-year-old pleaded not guilty and claimed trial after the charges were read before Sessions Court judge Azura Alwi on Friday.
For the first charge, Saravanan is accused of corruptly receiving RM150,000 in cash from Tan through Syed Amirul at the Bukit Jalil Golf & Country Resorts as an incentive to approve the quota of 1,000 foreign workers.
For the second charge, he was accused of corruptly receiving RM350,000 in cash from Tan through Syed Amirul at Jalan Telawi, Bangsar, as payment for approving the above-mentioned quota.
For the third charge, he is accused of corruptly receiving RM597,000 in the form of a cheque from Tan through Syed Amirul at Maybank Islamic Bhd, Old Klang Road branch, as a reward for the approval of the same quota. The cheque was deposited into Big Seven Ventures Sdn Bhd's Maybank Islamic account.
All three charges are framed under Section 16(a)(B) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, which is punishable under Section 24(1) of the same Act.
If found guilty, Saravanan faces a maximum of 20 years' imprisonment and a fine of not less than five times the gratification amount or RM10,000 whichever is the higher.
Bail set at RM450,000
Judge Azura set bail at RM450,000 with one surety. The court also imposed additional terms for Saravanan to report to the MACC once every three months and for him not to disturb prosecution witnesses.
Deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Datuk Ahmad Akram Gharib led the prosecution on Friday while the defence team was led by Datuk Geethan Ram Vincent.
Earlier, DPP Julaila Jamaludin, who is also part of the prosecution team, suggested a bail of RM800,000 given the gravity of the offence and Saravanan's standing in the public eye.
She also asked for the accused's passport to be impounded.
Geethan countered that bail is not to be punitive in nature but merely to ensure attendance to court. He said that the amount suggested was excessive.
He said that his client had cooperated with the authorities throughout their investigation. He also added that there was no proof indicating that Saravanan was a flight risk.
He opposed the additional term of surrendering the travel document as his client travelled for charitable and cultural foundations' work, and also sought intermittent medical treatment at Chennai's Apollo Hospital.
He suggested bail at RM400,000.
The case comes up for mention on Sept 29.