KUALA LUMPUR: A civil engineer with several ongoing court cases has been charged again in three Sessions Courts today with bribery and money laundering.
Izwan Mashuri, 40, pleaded not guilty to two bribery charges read before Sessions Court judges Rozina Ayob and Azura Alwi and pleaded the same to 11 money laundering charges before judge Suzana Hussain.
For the bribery charges, Izwan, an officer with the Public Works Department, was accused of receiving a RM43,000 bribe from Azizul Bahari Abd Mutalib on March 24 last year to propose Normas Resources and Muzud Enterprise, which are owned by Azizul, to become a subcontractor for Pintas Utama Sdn Bhd.
The proposal involves a long-term contract starting in 2017 for a slope maintenance project for federal roads in the peninsular that includes slope repair, physical improvement and data collection.
Izwan was also accused of cheating Syed Omar Syed Mohamad on Feb 7 last year into believing he could propose Paradigm Jitu Enterprise to Pintas Utama Sdn Bhd for contracts for slope maintenance projects on federal and state roads.
This led Syed Omar to transfer RM20,000 to the accused.
Each charge was framed under Section 16(a)(B) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 and punishable under Section 24 of the same act, which carries up to 20 years' jail and a fine of not less than five times the amount of the bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
Deputy public prosecutor Nor Diana Nor Azwa suggested RM20,000 bail for the accused for each charge.
The accused's lawyer, Nur Faida Mohd Rashidee, pleaded for lower bail, saying the accused was suspended from work and relied on his wife's income of RM3,000 a month.
Judges Rozina and Suzana set bail at RM10,000 and RM8,000 and fixed March 20 and 21 for mention, respectively.
For the money laundering charges, Izwan was accused of ordering Mohamed Sufian Ab Rahman to transfer RM68,600 to Norsiah Mohd Anuar.
The funds, which belonged to SBR Consultant, are believed to be proceeds from illegal activities.
Izwan was accused of committing the offence 11 times between March 9 and Dec 2 last year at Bank Islam's Selayang branch.
The charges were framed under Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
The offence carries up to 15 years' jail and a fine of at least five times the sum obtained from money laundering or RM5 million, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
Deputy public prosecutor Aznika Mohd Anas suggested RM50,000 bail.
Nur Faida pleaded for lower bail, saying the accused had already been charged before the same judge and that he was facing more charges in different courts.
Judge Suzana ordered for the bail and additional condition imposed on the accused to be tied to his other charges in cases that she is presiding over.
The bail for Izwan remained at RM35,000 for his money laundering case and he has to report to the Kuala Lumpur MACC office every month.
The judge then fixed April 6 for re-mention.