KOTA KINABALU: A civil servant has been charged at the Special Corruption Court in Tawau with 22 counts of soliciting a total RM24,580.45 in bribes for his brother's company involving contract works at a school in Lahad Datu.

       Silvester Pantau, 52, who is the chief administrative assistant at a secondary school in Lahad Datu, pleaded not guilty to all the charges before Session Court Judge Abu Bakar Manat on Thursday (July 15).

       According to the charge, the accused committed the offences from March 4, 2015 to November 13, 2015 by using his position to obtain bribes by submitting the company invoices belonging to his brother.

       He was found to have committed an offence under Section 23 (1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, which is punishable under Section 24 (1) of the same act.

       The accused was released on a bail of RM10,000 and the court set August 23 as the case management date before the full trial.

       Silvester's passport was handed over to the court and he was asked to report to the MACC office every two months.

       The prosecution was represented by Prosecuting Officer Rekhraj Singh and the accused was represented by lawyer Zahir Hussein Ahmad Shah.