Asia-Pacific

Malaysian Central Bank official charged with graft

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-07-01 17:11

KUALA LUMPUR - A former Malaysian Central Bank assistant governor was charged on Friday with taking bribes from a businessman to help him win contract deals with the bank.

Mohamad Daud pleaded not guilty to two counts of corruption.

The 58-year-old man was accused of accepting 100,000 ringgit ( $2,786) from a businessman in Kuala Lumpur, through a third party, to help Note Printing Australia Limited, an Australian currency printing firm, procure a contract to print the five ringgit bank notes.

If found guilty, he could be jailed for not less than 14 days and not exceeding 20 years.

His charges came as part of a cross-border clampdown on a bribery scandal for bank note supply contracts that was started by the Australian authorities in 2009.

Eight people, including Mohamad Daud have been arrested so far.

Australia arrested and charged two currency printing firms and six of their former senior staff with bribing officials in Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia on Friday morning.

Malaysia's graft busters last year detained three individuals who were later charged with taking bribes to win supply contracts and persuade the Malaysian government to opt for polymer notes.