The former leader of a resource-rich eastern Malaysian state was charged on Monday with allegedly receiving bribes for the award of timber concessions amid a widening crackdown on abuse by former officials.
Musa Aman, who was chief minister of Sabah state on Borneo island from 2003 until the ouster of scandal-tainted Prime Minister Najib Razak’s government in May’s general election, is the latest high-ranking official to be prosecuted.
Musa, 67, was detained Monday by the anti-graft agency before being taken to court. He pleaded not guilty to 35 counts of corruption for allegedly receiving a total of USD 63.3 million in Hong Kong and Singapore through proxies between 2004 and 2008 in exchange for timber contracts.