SEREMBAN, A Labour Department (JTK) employee in Negeri Sembilan pleaded not guilty in the Sessions Court here today to 13 counts of accepting bribes totaling RM58,720 from 2020 to last year. Mashitah Abdul Rahim, 39, entered the plea after all the charges were read out to her before Judge Meor Sulaiman Ahmad Tarmizi. Mashitah, an Industrial Relations assistant officer at Seremban JTK is charged with receiving the bribes through cash transfers and online transactions from 12 individuals who were former employees, managers and company directors. The bribes were as an inducement to prevent enforcement action related to claims and the offences we allegedly committed at the JTK Seremban office, Wisma Persekutuan from Dec 2020 to April 25, 2023. The charges were framed under Section 16(a)(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 and punishable under Section 24 of the same act, which carries a maximum imprisonment of 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the value of the bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction. MACC deputy public prosecutor Mohamad Azriff Firdaus Mohamad Ali handled the prosecution, while the accused was represented by counsel HM Lavanesh. Judge Meor Sulaiman granted bail at RM7,000 with one surety and imposed additional conditions requiring Mashitah to report to the Seremban MACC Office once a month and to surrender her passport to the court until the case ends. The case is scheduled for re-mention on Aug 12. Source: BERNAMA News Agency