KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 16): Five officials from the police force and Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) were the latest to be charged in court by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in its continued efforts to tackle petty corruption.

All five enforcement personnel pleaded not guilty at the Sessions Court today.

Police Lance Corporal Muhammad Nazruldin Chee Chau Vui,34, was accused of accepting a RM800 bribe from one Lanny Ong in return for not taking any action against the latter for alleged diesel smuggling.

He was alleged to have committed the offence on Jun 4 last year, and charged under Section 17(a) of the MACC Act.

The offence is punishable under Section 24(1) of the same act, which provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in jail, or a fine of RM10,000 or five times the amount of bribery, whichever is higher.

Judge Allaudeen Ismail set bail at RM7000 with one surety. The case will be mentioned on Nov 18.

Another police personnel charged was Assistant Investigating Officer Shaharuddin Abdul Shukor,54. He is accused of accepting a RM300 bribe as an incentive not to act on a report.

He was alleged to have committed the crime on Nov 1 last year.

He was also charged under Section 17(1) of the MACC Act. He faced an alternative charge under Section 506 of the Penal Code.

The Penal Code offence is punishable under Section 165, which provides for imprisonment of up to two years, or a fine, or both.

Judge Rosbiahanin Arifin set bail at RM6000 with one surity. The case will be mentioned on Nov 14.

Three DBKL enforcement personnel – Mohd Nasir Danuri,45, Mohamad Redzuan Chan,41, and Ja'affar Ibrahim,57, were charged for allegedly asking RM 2000 as a bribe, and eventually receiving RM1,500, from an owner of an unlicensed restaurant in the city.

They were alleged to have committed the offence between Oct 22 and 24, 2012. They were also charged under Section 17 (a) of the MACC Act.

Judge Rosbiahanin set bail at RM 20,000 with one surity each. The case will be mentioned on Nov 13.

All five were not represented by lawyers today, while DPP Lokman Kasim appeared for the prosecution in all the cases.

It is understood that the charges today and the recent slew of charges against customs officials were a result of a series of operations carried out by the MACC to tackle petty bribery cases.