Senior Police Officer Charged With Failure To Declare Assets

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 (Bernama) -- A senior police officer pleaded not guilty at the Sessions Court today to two charges of failing to comply with an asset declaration notice involving, among other items, 716.8 grammes of digital gold and RM80,000 in cryptocurrency last year.

DSP Mohd Shahril Abu Bakar, 41, was charged with two counts of neglecting a written notice under Section 36(1)(a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, served on him by an MACC commissioner on March 30, 2024.

He allegedly provided a sworn written statement in which he failed to identify the source of the acquired assets, as well as how it was obtained.

The assets involved funds deposited into two bank accounts belonging to Tahara Services, in which the accused held a vested interest.

He further failed to state the source of the digital gold stored on Public Gold, RM80,000 in cryptocurrency invested through Luno, and RM39,198.48 invested in his Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) account.  

The charges also involve RM110,000 invested in ASB accounts under his children’s names, and RM68,000 paid into an Affin Islamic Bank Berhad housing loan for a property in Johor Bahru.

He was charged under Section 36(2) of the MACC Act, which provides for imprisonment of up to five years, a fine not exceeding RM100,000, or both, upon conviction.

Judge Rosli Ahmad set the next case mention for Oct 29, and granted the accused bail of RM15,000 for both charges, with additional conditions of surrendering his passport and reporting monthly to the MACC office until the disposal of the case.

Deputy public prosecutor Julaila Jamaludin appeared for the prosecution, while the accused was represented by counsel Azrul Zulkifli Stork.

-- BERNAMA