Tuesday January 25, 2011
Former immigration chief charged with having excessive assets
By PRISCILLA DIELENBERG
[email protected]
GEORGE TOWN: A former Penang Immigration Department director pleaded not guilty to possessing properties in excess of his emolument.
Abdul Rahman Harun, 52, was charged by the Malaysian Anti- Corruption Commission (MACC) under the MACC Act 2009 after he had failed to satisfactorily explain how he came to own an excess of RM152,081 in assets.
The offence under Section 36(3) of the MACC Act 2009 carries a jail term of up to 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the value of the excess or RM10,000, whichever is the higher.
On trial: Abdul Rahman being brought out of the Sessions Court after being charged yesterday.
Abdul Rahman claimed trial to committing the offence at the MACC complex in Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah here on Oct 11 last year.
He is alleged to have RM817,355 in assets, made up of RM681,355 in three accounts and a piece of land in Ayer Hitam in Sepang, Selangor valued at RM136,000, which showed an excess of RM152,081 with regard to his present or past emoluments and all other relevant circumstances.
In seeking bail, counsel Mohd Fadly Hashim said Abdul Rahman had been in service with the government for 28 years while his wife, a teacher, had been a government servant for 26 years. He said the couple were not likely to abscond as they were well-respected in society.
The couple has four children, three of whom were still studying. Mohd Fadly said when the investigations began in August 2009, Abdul Rahman was the state Immigration director and he was now the assistant head of the National Key Results Area (NKRA) under the Home Ministry.
He said Abdul Rahman’s assets had been frozen since the investigations began, except for the account where his salary was paid. MACC deputy public prosecutor Anthony Kevin Morais proposed bail at RM20,000 in view of the seriousness of the case.
He added that Abdul Rahman and his wife were not in financial crisis as they continued to be employed since the start of the investigations. Sessions judge Sitarun Nisa Abdul Aziz set bail at RM15,000 in one surety and fixed June 13 to June 16 for hearing.
