KUALA LUMPUR - Bersatu Information chief Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan has pleaded not guilty at the Sessions Court, here, today for two charges of bribery for last year's Central Spine Road project worth RM232 million.
Saiful, 48, made the plea after the charges were read in front of judge Azura Alwi.
"I plead not guilty and claim trial," he said.
On the first count, he was alleged to have solicited bribe from one Lian Tan Chuan as an inducement to help Nepturis Sdn Bhd obtain the Central Spine Road from Sertik to the East Coast Expressway junction project from the government through a pre-qualification process worth RM232 million.
He was accused with committing the offence at the Royal Lake Club, Taman Tasik Perdana, here, in April 2022.
For the second charge, Wan Saiful allegedly received for himself a bribe of RM6,962,694.54 through a CIMB account belonging to his company WSA Advisory Group Sdn Bhd, from Nepturis’ Maybank Islamic Berhad account.
The money was purportedly received as a reward for helping Nepturis obtain a letter of acceptance for the same project.
The charges framed under Section 16(a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act and punishable under Section 24(1) of the same Act, carries a jail term of up to 20 years and a fine not less than five times the value of the subject matter of the offence, or RM10,000, whichever is higher, if convicted.
Deputy public prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin offered bail between RM500,000 to RM1 million with one surety to the accused.
"The amount is reasonable as the alleged offence is serious and we propose the accused to be subjected to additional conditions such as surrendering his passport to the court and reporting to the MACC office once a month.
"We have acknowledged the fact that the accused is not a flight risk and has given his cooperation to the MACC throughout the investigation," he said.
Meanwhile, lawyer Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik who represented Wan Saiful pleaded for his client to be granted bail of not more than RM300,000.
"Both of the accused’s bank accounts were frozen by the MACC and his wife is suffering from health complications," he said.
Saiful was also represented by lawyers Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan and Datuk Rosal Azimin Ahmad.
Judge Azura then allowed bail of RM400,000 and imposed the additional conditions suggested by the prosecution.
She ordered the accused to report to the Putrajaya MACC office once every two months.
The court had set March 22 for mention.