SHAH ALAM: A former special officer to Hishammuddin Hussein, the defence minister who also served as acting transport minister under the Najib administration, was today sentenced to two years’ jail and a fine of RM400,000 after he was found guilty of taking a bribe amounting RM80,000 four years ago.
Sessions Court Judge Rozina Salleh found Zailan Jauhri guilty under Section 16(a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act for accepting bribes for school cleaning tenders by the Ministry of Education.
“The court found the sworn testimony was not reliable and that he was merely making up stories.
“Zailan’s defence was not supported by the prosecution’s evidence,” she said.
However, the court allowed Zailan to halt the sentence pending his appeal to the High Court.
He was allowed a RM50,000 bail with one surety, but must settle the RM400,000 fine by today, or face another one year jail sentence.
Zailan’s lawyer Md Yunos Shariff urged for the minimum jail sentence, saying his client was the sole breadwinner in his family.
“He was sacked from the civil service after he was charged in court and has to take part time jobs to support his family,” he added.
Deputy public prosecutor Heikal Ismail told the court to impose a deterrent sentence against Zailan as corruption was a serious offence. -FMT
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