Sabah civil servant acquitted of 14 bribery charges

New Straits Times

07-05-2025

KOTA KINABALU: The High Court today acquitted a civil servant previously convicted of 14 bribery charges, ruling that the lower court failed to consider key cross-examination testimony.
Judge Datuk Celestina Stuel Galid set aside both the conviction and sentence of Awang Saifudin Jumat, discharging and acquitting him.
Awang, 48, had appealed against the decision of the lower court which found him guilty of bribery.
Counsel Zahir Shah said the judge found the lower court failed to weigh the cross-examination of the prosecution's main witness.
The witness had testified that the funds deposited into Awang's account were not linked to contracts awarded to her company, undermining the core of the charges.
On May 3, 2024, Awang was convicted and sentenced to one-year imprisonment and fined RM255,000 by the Special Corruption Court here after he was found guilty for 14 counts of receiving bribes totalling RM50,500.
The court imposed one year imprisonment and a fine of between RM10,000 and RM50,000 for each charge.
The sentences were ordered to be run concurrently starting from the date of conviction, but Awang's stay of application pending appeal to the High Court was granted.
The charges stated that Awang, as an executive officer (Grade 41) at the Putatan District Council, had accepted RM50,500 from a woman as an inducement to grant her the repair, supply and service work contract for the council from 2016 to 2018.
The said money was deposited into Awang's bank account between Nov 15, 2017, and Feb 26, 2018, at a Maybank branch in Putatan.
The offences fall under Section 17(a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, which is punishable under Section 24(1) of the same act that provides for a jail term of up to 20 years and a fine five times the bribe amount, upon conviction.
Eighteen prosecution witnesses and three defence witnesses were called during the trial which started in June 2023.
Counsel Zahir Shah represented the appelant while Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) prosecuting officer Nurul Izzati Sapifee for the respondent.