
Forty charges of bribery amounting to RM19,850 were made against another five Road Transport Department (JPJ) officers and one Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) officer.
The lowest bribe allegedly received was RM850 while the highest amount was RM7,000. All bribes were said to be received between March 2015 and May last year.
The officers were charged under Section 16 (a)(B) of the MACC Act 2009 with an alternative charge under Section 165 of the Penal Code.
The bribes were allegedly given as an inducement to refrain from action against lorry companies that committed offences listed in the Road Transport Act 1987 and Land Public Transport Act 2010.
The officers, who are still on active duty, pleaded not guilty to the charges before judge Nizam Zakaria.
JPJ officer Muhammad Rozaidi Azmi, 36, was charged with 10 counts of receiving bribes amounting to RM7,000 between Aug 5, 2017 and May 14, 2018.
JPJ officer Khairol Azri Abd Rahman, 31, was charged with eight counts of receiving bribes amounting to RM4,350 between Jan 2018 and July 2018.
JPJ officer Mohamad Noor Ibrahim, 44, was charged with six counts of receiving bribes amounting to RM4,200 between July 2017 and Dec 2017.
JPJ officer Saidatul Hanim Sabudin, 33, was charged with nine counts of receiving bribes amounting to RM2,250 between June and Nov 2017. She told the court she has since been transferred to the public affairs department.
JPJ officer Mohd Ependi Hassan, 33, was charged with six counts of receiving bribes amounting to RM850.
The five JPJ officers were offered RM10,000 bail with one surety and were represented by lawyer Naran Singh.
Meanwhile, SPAD officer V Chandrasegeran, 49, was charged with one count of receiving bribes amounting to RM1,200 in September 2017.
Chandrasegeran, who was unrepresented, told the court that he had been suspended from SPAD. He also disputed the facts of the charge, saying the date of the offence was inaccurate.
He said he would not enter a plea since the charge was inaccurate.
However, Nizam told him he needed to enter a plea, adding that he could argue the facts of the case during trial once he is represented by a lawyer.
Chandrasegeran then claimed trial and was offered bail of RM8,000 with one surety.
Prosecution was conducted by deputy public prosecutor Mohamad Azlan Basri.
During mitigation, Azlan had asked for a higher bail amount of RM15,000 to RM20,000.
It is learnt that another group of six, the last group JPJ officers, will be charged with bribery at the same court tomorrow.
A total of 15 officers from the two agencies have been charged since May.
Yesterday, five JPJ officers and one SPAD officer were charged with 36 counts of bribery for allegedly receiving RM73,600 as part of the lorry protection racket.
On May 27, meanwhile, nine Penang JPJ officers were charged with 164 counts of bribery at the same court for allegedly receiving RM136,000.
Seventy-five of 139 state JPJ enforcement officers were called in for questioning by MACC earlier this year on suspicion of receiving monthly bribes ranging from RM10,000 to RM32,000 to protect lorry drivers and companies from various offences, especially overloading.