KUALA LUMPUR: The son of opposition leader Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin was today charged in the Sessions Court with accepting cash RM100,000 in bribes as inducement to use his influence to obtain a tender six years ago.
Muhammad Faisal Hamzah,40, claimed trial to the offence before judge Rozina Ayob.
"I plead not guilty," he said.
The charge sheet read that he had dishonestly accepted the bribes from Izmir Abd Hamid as inducement for Heitech Padu Berhad to appoint Rimba Merpati Sdn Bhd and Syarikat Per My Solutions as marketing consultant because of his influence.
It was for the companies to be then paid a commission of RM700,000 after Heitech Padu Berhad is awarded a RM33 million 'Supply, Rental, Implementation, Training, Support and Maintenance of Security Infrastructure' tender by the Companies Commission of Malaysia.
He committed the offence at an office in Publika Shopping Gallery, Jalan Dutamas 1 in March 2018.
The offence under Section 16(a)(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 is punishable under Section 24(1).
It carries a maximum 20-year jail term and fine not less than five times the bribe sum; or RM10,000; whichever is higher.
Deputy public prosecutor Mahadi Abdul Jumaat urged the court to set bail at RM30,000 with one surety.
As additional conditions, he asked for Faisal's passport to be surrendered to be court until case disposal; for Faisal to report to the Kuala Lumpur MACC office from July and not contact prosecution witnesses.
In mitigation, Faisal's counsel Ravinder Singh Dhalliwal pleaded for bail to be set at RM25,000 for his client, who is a father of four.
He said his client needed to travel to Thailand monthly as he was in the process of opening a hostel.
In reply, Mahadi said the RM30,000 proposed bail sum was appropriate as the bribe sum stated on the charge was RM100,000.
"We should take into consideration the nature of this charge and the background of the accused.
"The accused does not have dire financial issues and he is also the son of a former senior minister.
"We maintain our stance on his passport because as practiced in MACC cases, an accused can apply for temporary release of passport if he wants to go overseas.
"We will study each application whether to object or otherwise," he said.
Judge Rozina set bail at RM25,000 with one surety and allowed the prosecution's applications.
She also ruled that Faisal is blacklisted from travelling overseas.
