GEORGE TOWN: The first batch of Penang Road and Transport Department (RTD) enforcement officers detained in connection with the lorry driver protection racket will be charged at the Butterworth Special Corruption Court for 162 counts of bribery.
Under Section 16(a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, the nine face a jail term not exceeding 20 years and a fine of at least five times the bribe amount, or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
The officers were alleged to have accepted bribes from a lorry company to overlook offences committed by its drivers under the Road Transport Act 1986 and Land Public Transport Act 2010.
A source said the nine were categorised as the worst offenders in the racket. He added that one of them had more than 50 offences under his name.
“They will all be charged separately.
“Initially, we planned to charge 30, but due to time constraints, we decided to go with nine first.
“We will charge the rest of the enforcement officers involved in the lorry driver protection racket in batches over the next month,” he added.
Some 75 enforcement officers, ranked between Grade 19 and 32, were believed to have received monthly payments of between RM10,000 and RM32,000 as inducement for not taking action against errant lorry drivers and for leaking information about RTD operations.
The lorries were supplied with special stickers prepared by tontos (thugs), allowing them to be exempted from enforcement actions.
In a blitz from April 9 to April 22, 60 state RTD enforcement officers were arrested as well.
Out of 457 RTD staff in Penang, 139 are enforcement officers.
There are currently about 8,000 RTD personnel nationwide.