NAVEEN Kularasa Rasiah, nephew of Sungai Buloh MP Sivarasa Rasiah, and another individual were charged in Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court today with three counts of soliciting and accepting bribes.

It was alleged that Naveen and Nico Kam, a former employee of the Sivarasa’s service centre, had secured the bribes from a foreign national to “close a case” of abuse of academic credentials for the admission of migrant workers.

The pair pleaded not guilty to the three charges brought under section 16(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 and were granted bail of RM10,000 each.

Judge Azura Alwi fixed February 24 for next mention of the case.

Yesterday, Sivarasa accused the MACC of embarking on a witch-hunt, targeting his staff in revenge for Sivarasa raising MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki’s personal finances in Parliament last month.

On December 14, Sivarasa brought Azam’s share dealings to the attention of Parliament, asking if the chief commissioner had declared the millions of shares he had bought in two companies, and called for an investigation.

Yesterday, he said MACC suddenly revived the case against staff and nephew, which had originally started four-and-a-half years ago but did not see any action taken after the MACC completed its investigation in September 2017.

Sivarasa said both Naveen and Nico are innocent and that the case is unfounded.

“Naveen and my former staff Nico will present their defence firmly in court. They are innocent,” the PKR lawmaker said in a statement today.

Deputy public prosecutor Noralis Mat Rasyidah Azmi Kalai brought the case on behalf of the MACC. Naveen was represented by M. Puravaleen, while Nico was not represented.

On the first charge, Naveen and Nico were alleged to have solicited bribes from Mono Miah Siddikur Rahman, a Bangladeshi businessman who owns Dyna Maintenance Services Sdn Bhd, at Restoran Maluri, Kuala Lumpur, on September 17, 2017, as an inducement to not report him to the Immigration Department.

Mono Miah was said to have brought in migrant workers by using forged professional credentials for labour requirements.

On the second charge, they are alleged to have agreed to accept bribes amounting to RM45,000 from Mono Miah, through Kam, on the same date as an inducement to not inform the Immigration Department about the company.

On the third charge, Naveen and Kam are alleged to have received another RM20,000 from the businessman at Restoran Habeeb Jaya in Taman Maluri, Cheras, on September 21, 2017. – January 24, 2022.