JOHOR BARU: A Sultanah Aminah Hospital medical laboratory technologist, 52, pleads not guilty to 25 charges of accepting bribes totalling RM16,150 at the Sessions Courts here today.
Saifulamin Sabran, who is attached with the Pathology Department, was charged with accepting the bribes between 2019 and last year before judge Datuk Ahmad Kamal Arifin Ismail.
Saifulamin was accused of allegedly receiving the RM16,150, in six bank transfers from intermediaries between Aug 17, 2019, and Jan 19, 2023.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) deputy public prosecutor Julaila Jamaludin proposed a RM13,000 bail for all 25 charges with three additional conditions.
The conditions were for the accused or his representatives to refrain from interfering with witnesses, for him to report to the commission's Johor Baru office once a month, and to surrender his passport to the court.
The defendant's counsel, Shaik Saleem S.M. Daud, requested a reduction in bail, citing that the defendant was his family's sole breadwinner, while his wife was unemployed, and that they had three children.
The court granted a bail of RM10,000 for all charges with one guarantor and imposed the three additional conditions.
The New Straits Times had reported that three police officers attached to the Narcotics Crime Investigation Department had been arrested by the MACC for allegedly bribing a pathologist at Sultanah Aminah Hospital to falsify reports.
State Health and Unity Committee Chairman Ling Tian Soon had said that the Pathology Department underwent a digital transformation, implementing strict procedures to boost operations and prevent corrupt practices.