A fire officer pleaded not guilty at the Sessions Court in Sungai Petani on Tuesday to three charges of soliciting and accepting bribes totalling RM11,500 in 2024 and 2025.
The accused, Johari Bar Azwar, 40, who serves as a KB9 Fire Superintendent at Zone 2 of the Sungai Petani Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM), entered his plea before Judge N. Priscilla Hemamalini after the charges were read.
Under the first charge, Johari is accused of accepting RM1,500 from the 66-year-old owner of a company as an inducement to obtain a JBPM licensing support letter for the business.
The alleged offence took place behind a restaurant at Amanjaya Mall, Sungai Petani, at about 12.30pm on April 4, 2024.
For the second and third charges, Johari is alleged to have solicited and accepted RM10,000 from the 27-year-old owner of another company in exchange for obtaining similar support letters for that company and another business.
The offences were allegedly committed outside premises in the Taman Ria Jaya Industrial Area at around 3pm on February 4, 2025.
The charges were brought under Section 17(a) and Section 16(a)(B) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009.
The court granted Johari bail of RM16,000 for all three charges and fixed September 9 for the next mention of the case.
