A former senior manager of Sime Darby Engineering Sdn Bhd in Pasir Gudang today pleaded not guilty to two counts of corruption involving RM55,300 worth of items.

Md Zaki Othman, 49, is reported by Bernama as being accused of receiving furniture worth RM33,600 at his house in Taman Austin Perdana, Johor Bahru at about 10am on Dec 14, 2007, paid for by Abdul Salam Ahmad, managing director of Duplex Energy Sdn Bhd.

The furniture was allegedly a bribe to induce Zaki to help Duplex Energy get a letter of intent dated Jan 11, 2008, for a Sime Darby project worth RM23,901,959.

Zaki is charged under Section 11(a) of the Anti-Corruption Act 1997 and may be jailed up to 20 years, fined not less than five times the value of the bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher, if found guilty.

On the second count of corruption, Zaki is alleged to have obtained for his wife Harison Hamza a Rolex watch worth RM21,700 as a bribe to approve and speed up progress payment for the first project and another Sime Darby project sub-contracted to Duplex Energy.

The offence is alleged to have been committed at Zaki's house at about 9pm on March 10 2009.

The charge was made under 17(a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 which carries, under Section 24, a maximum jail of 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the value of the bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher.

Court registrar Hidayah Abdul Manap allowed bail of RM15,000 and fixed Feb 25 for mention of the case.

Last month, a former senior manager at Sime Darby Engineering Sdn Bhd was charged at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court with receiving a RM200,000 inducement to propose a company for a multi-million ringgit contract.

Mazhazmi Jamaludin allegedly received the money from MLC Shipbuilding as payment for proposing the company for a US$132.2 million (RM421.15 million) contract from Sime Darby.

NONELast August, Zamri Mohd Iderus (left), 39, became the first top Sime Darby manager to be charged by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) following revelations of massive cost overruns incurred by the conglomerate.

He was accused of allegedly receiving two cheques of RM99,000 to reveal information to a bidder for a copper nickel piping contract in 2008 and also in the same year an architectural work contract worth RM14, 430,000.