Ex-Sime Darby Senior GM Gets 27 Years for Corruption

A former senior general manager of Sime Darby Engineering Sdn Bhd was sentenced to 27 years' jail and fined RM894,400 on five counts of corruption involving over RM180,000.

Sessions Court judge Ahmad Zamzani Mohd Zain made the decision after the defence failed to cast reasonable doubt on all the charges against Md Zaki Othman, at the close of the defence case.
Zaki, 50, who was based in Pasir Gudang, Johor looked calm when the sentence was read. The court ordered him to serve another 112 months' jail if he failed to pay the fine.

Ahmad Zamzani said the defence case was merely based on denial and regarded Zaki's explanation as dishonest and unreasoanable.

"The alibi given by a defence witness is baseless, unreasonable and failed to destroy the perception that bribery in the form of wristwatches and furniture were corruption," said the judge.

However, the court allowed suspension of jail sentence pending appeal in the High Court and ordered Zaki to surrender his passport to the court and report to the nearest police station once a month.

Zamzani also ordered that the bail of RM45,000 imposed on Zaki be raised to RM70,000 with one surety.

For the first charge, Zaki was sentenced to four years' jail and fined RM168,000 or 18 months' jail and for the second charge, five years' jail and fined RM108,500 or 20 months' jail.

He was sentenced to five years' jail and fined RM153,000 or 20 months for the third charge and six years' jail and fined RM164,900 or 24 months' jail for the fourth charge.


For the fifth charge, Zaki was sentenced to seven years' jail and fined RM300,000 or 30 months' jail.

The court ordered that all the sentences run consecutively.

For the first charge, Zaki was alleged to have received RM33,600 bribe in the form of furniture from Abdul
Salam Ahmad, at his house in Jalan Austin Perdana 2/11, Taman Austin Perdana here at 10am on Dec 14, 2007.

The money was to help the contractor obtain a letter of intent (LOI) dated Jan 11, 2008 for the project "EPCIC for MOQ Package 16, BE Process and BG Utility Platforms worth RM23,901.959 for Duplex Energy Sdn Bhd.

The charge under Section 11 (a) of Prevention of Corruption Act 1997 carries the maximum jail sentence of 20 years' and fine not less five times the amount of bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher.

For the second charge, Zaki was alleged to have received a Rolex wristwatch worth RM21,700 from Abdul Salam at the same address at 9pm on March 10, 2009, as inducement to help approve and expedite progress payment for the contract "EPCIC for MOQ Package 16, BE Process and BG Utility Platforms" at Sime Darby Engineering Sdn Bhd, Pasir Gudang and sub-contract project Kumang & Tangga Barat Cluster Development Project (Phase 1) for Duplex Energy Sdn Bhd.

The charge under Section 17 (a) of Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 carries the maximum 20 years' jail sentence and fine five times the amount of bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher.

For the third charge, Zaki was alleged to have asked for bribe in the form of IWC wristwatch worth RM32,980 from Abdul Salam at Hour Glass Sdn Bhd, Lot 10 Shopping Centre in Jalan Sultan Ismail here between 1.30pm and 4.30pm between March 13 and 15, 2009.

It was as inducement to help the contractor to obtain LOI for a small contract, Kumang & Tangga Barat Cluster Development Project (Phase 1) by the contractor's company that deals in oil and gas engineering.

For the fourth charge, Zaki was accused of receiving bribe in the form of a Hublot wristwatch worth RM60,000 from Abdul Salam at 10am between May 13, 2009 and May 15, 2009, as inducement to approve and expedite progress payment for the contract "EPCIC for MOQ Package 16, BE Process and BG Utility Platforms' at Sime Darby Engineering Sdn Bhd, Pasir Gudang and the small contract, Kumang & Tangga Barat Cluster Development Project (Phase 1) by the contractor's company.

The third and fourth charges under Section 16 (a) (A) of MACC Act 2009 carry the maximum jail sentence of 20 years' and fine five times the amount of bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher.

For the fifth charge, Zaki was alleged to have asked Abdul Salam for a RM33,600 bribe in the form of a furniture set at Europe Asia Furniture Expo Sdn Bhd, Jalan Universiti, Petaling Jaya near here on Nov 28, 2007.

He was charged under Section 11 (a) of Prevention of Corruption Act 1997 that carries maximum jail sentence of 20 years' and fine five times the amount of bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher. Earlier, Zaki's counsel T.Vijayasandran pleaded for a light sentence as his client had lost his job and asked that the jail sentences run concurrently.

DPP Muhammad Saifuddin Hashim Musaimi of MACC asked the court for a deterrent sentence as being a senior general manager at Sime Darby, Zaki should show a good example to the organization and his subordinates.

"With a salary of RM39,000 per month, it is unreasonable of him to commit corruption and the case should not have happened," he said.

The prosecution produced 29 witnesses and the defence eight witnesses including the accused who were called to give testimony during the hearing beginning Feb last year. BERNAMA

Source : The Star