00:00Two Sabah assemblymen and a businessman pleaded not guilty in the Kota Kinabalu Sessions Court
00:07on Monday to corruption charges involving mineral mining licensing in the state in 2023.
00:14Sindumin Assemblyman Datuk Dr. Yusof Yaakob, Tanjung Batu Assemblyman, Datuk Andy Mohamed
00:20Suryadi Bandi, and businessman Datuk Albert Taejian Cheng made their pleas after separate
00:27charges were read before Judge Jason Juga.
00:30Sixty-nine-year-old Yusof, who is also chairman of Kazana Sabah Berhad, was charged with one
00:36count of receiving a 200,000 ringgit bribe from Taej on March 6, 2023, as an inducement to
00:43facilitate the approval of a prospecting license for Nusakini Sendirian Berhad to explore minerals
00:49in Sabah.
00:51Forty-four-year-old Andy, who is also Sabah Assistant Minister of Industrial Development
00:56and Entrepreneurship and Kalabakan MP, was accused of accepting 150,000 ringgit cash from Taej on
01:05May 12, 2023, to assist with the prospecting license application of Sinaran Hayat Sendirian
01:12Berhad.
01:13Thirty-seven-year-old Taej from Selangor was slapped with two counts of giving bribes to both
01:19assemblymen in relation to the same license applications.
01:23All three were charged under Section 16, Subsection AA of the MACC Act, 2009, and face a jail term
01:32of up to 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the amount of the bribe, or 10,000
01:38ringgit, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
01:42The two assemblymen were each released on bail of 50,000 ringgit, with 10,000 ringgit deposited
01:48under one surety, while Taej was released on a bail of 60,000 ringgit, with 15,000 ringgit
01:53deposited under one surety, for both charges.
01:56They were also instructed to report to the nearest MACC office once every two months, and
02:02to surrender their passports to the court.
02:03The court fixed Aug. 5 for pre-trial case management.
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