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Wednesday May 27, 2009

Umno division chief claims trial to RM210,000 graft


KUALA LUMPUR: An Umno division chief pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of corruption amounting to RM210,012 at the Sessions Court here yesterday.

Abd Ghani Ismail, 43, who is the Pandan Umno division chief, was charged with nine counts of bribery between Aug 4, 2006 and March 31, 2007, at two different locations in Desa Pandan here.

He is accused of obtaining bribes from Abdul Rahman Yaacob, the owner of Syarikat Pancaran Citra Enterprise, a solid waste management company, in return for securing contracts from the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ).

The contracts were for solid waste collection services in Taman Lembah Maju and Taman Kencana as well as cleaning services in Pandan Cahaya.

At the time of the alleged offences, Abd Ghani was the division’s Youth chief and a member of MPAJ’s tender committee.

He was also separately charged with bribery by getting a company in which he has an indirect interest to be appointed as a sub-contractor to another company which had been awarded a contract by MPAJ to manage solid waste in Bandar Pandan Indah.

He is accused of getting Syarikat Lembah Rimbun to be appointed as a sub-contractor to Syarikat Dwisakti Mewah Sdn Bhd at No 27, Jalan Pandan 7, Pandan Jaya here, on May 1, 2006. He had helped Dwisakti Mewah secure the solid waste management contract from MPAJ.

He was charged under Section 11(a) of the Anti-Corruption Act 1997 for all 10 counts, and if found guilty, can be jailed not more than 20 years and fined not less than five times the amount of the bribes.

Sessions Court judge Rosbiahanin Arifin set bail at RM23,000 with one surety after Abd Ghani pleaded for a lower bail, saying that he was only a small-time businessman with three children to support.

The court set June 26 for mention.

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