A former Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) deputy director was sentenced to six months in jail and fined RM87,000 by the Sessions Court yesterday after finding him guilty on 3 charges of bribery involving RM87,000 in connection with the approval of the Universal Service Provision (USP) project.
According to media reports, for the first charge, Mohd Iskandar King, 44, from the Postal Affairs and E-Commerce Division of MCMC was jailed for six months and fined RM50,000 in default 30 days jail while for the second and third charges, he was sentenced to three months’ jail and fined RM18,500 each in default 14 days in jail. The prison sentence will run concurrently.
The court also granted a stay of execution and increased the bail to RM30,000 from RM20,000 pending his appeal against his conviction to be filed to the High Court.
According to the charges, the former MCMC deputy director was accused of accepting a bribe of RM50,000 from Golden Sunrise Ventures Sdn Bhd director Mohd Azuzi Mohamed Kamil, who is also OCK Setia Engineering Sdn Bhd consultant in return for a favour in securing a USP Time 3 Extension Phase 1 contract from MCMC.
He was alleged to have committed the offence at a restaurant at IOI City Mall, Putrajaya at 8pm on Jan 9, 2019.
The charge, under Section 165 of the Penal Code, provides for a maximum jail term of two years or with a fine or both, if convicted.
For the two other charges, Mohd Iskandar allegedly received two cheques amounting to RM18,500 each, which were made payable to him and his wife Nur Ellina Abdul Sukor, from Mohd Azuzi whom he knew had a connection with his official work.
The offences, allegedly committed at Bukit Jalil Golf and Country Resort at 5pm on June 23, 2015, are charged under Section 165 of the Penal Code.
A total of 31 prosecution witnesses were called to testify at the trial of the case which began in Dec 2020.
Read the report published by The Edge Markets here and here.
The Universal Service Provision (USP) Fund was established under Section 204 of the CMA 1998 and managed by the MCMC. It is aimed at bridging the digital divide by providing telecommunications and digital communications services to areas that lack telecommunications access. These include expanding and improving 4G mobile coverage in the rural areas, fibre optics expansion, community Internet centre (Pusat Internet), device subsidies, among others.
As per the USP regulation, it is mandatory for telecommunications companies recording a net profit of more than RM2 million for the year of assessment to contribute 6% of its weighted revenue to the USP Fund. The accumulated USP funds as at end of 2020 stood at RM10.09 billion. For the implementation of its Jendela Phase 1 projects (2020-2022), the commission has allocated a total of RM7.40 billion from the USP fund.
