Wan Saiful’s officer charged in court for obstructing MACC investigation

KUALA LUMPUR (March 7): An officer working for former Bersatu information chief Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan has been charged at the Sessions Court here for failing to show up to the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) offices to have his statement recorded for an investigation.

Mohamad Shafiq Abdul Halim, 32, pleaded not guilty before Sessions Court judge Suzana Hussain to one count of disobeying an MACC officer’s instruction, thus obstructing their investigations.

The charge was read out to him in open court.

He was accused of not turning up to the headquarters in Putrajaya on March 3, and he was charged under Section 48 (c) of the MACC Act 2009, which is punishable under Section 69 of the same Act which carries a jail term of up to two years and a fine not more than RM10,000 upon conviction.

Lawyer Chetan Jethwani was representing him while deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib was acting for the prosecution.

Shafiq was slapped with an RM10,000 bail amount by the judge and an order to surrender his passport to the courts.

The judge fixed April 7 for a further case mention.

Shafiq has been making the rounds on social media since February 21, after he was caught in a video alleging that the MACC had offered to pay Wan Saiful RM10 million if the Tasek Gelugor MP were to testify that he had taken bribes from Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

The MACC had rejected all allegations in the video.

Wan Saiful was charged before the sessions court for soliciting bribes for helping Nepturis Sdn Bhd obtain approval by the government for the central spine road project worth RM232 million in April 2022.

The second charge was for receiving a bribe amounting to RM6.96 million from Nepturis through his company’s bank account number.

Wan Saiful had pleaded not guilty to both charges before judge Azura Alwi on Feb 21.

The video was released on social media that same night.