Musa is accused of committing the offences in Singapore and Hong Kong, with transactions from US$28,500 to US$16,148,547, amounting to a grand total of RM263 million.
The charges come under the Section 11 (a) of Anti-Corruption Act 1997, the precursor to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, before the former Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) was upgraded to a commission.
If convicted, he faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a fine of RM10,000 or up to five times the alleged bribes received, whichever amount is higher.
Two court interpreters took turns reading the charges to Musa, who was standing in the dock for nearly 40 minutes.
Eight individuals were mentioned in the charges against Musa: Lim Nyuk Foh, Looh Chai Boon, Chia Tian Foh, Mazlan Zakaria, Loh Man Heng, Nasir Yeo Guan Hock, Nip Wing Hon and Ngui Ing Cheang.
They were said to have bribed Musa through the companies linked to them.
The prosecution led by Gopal Sri Ram sought RM5 million bail with two sureties and asked for Musa to surrender his passports to the court.
However, Musa’s lawyer Amer Hamzah Arshad asked for a reduced amount of RM2 million on grounds that the Sungai Sibuga assemblyman had cooperated with the MACC and posed no flight risk.
He also said Musa had been seeking treatment in London but had returned to the country to assist the investigation.
He said MACC had last Friday served Musa with a notice to appear at the agency.
“He went to the headquarters today without knowing he would be arrested,” the lawyer added.
He said the RM5 million sought by Sri Ram was “exorbitant” as bail was only meant to secure Musa’s attendance in court.
Amer also presented Musa’s passport to the court and said they would produce his diplomatic passport as well.
“At the moment, he is staying here but he is supposed to fly back to Sabah on Wednesday for his court case decision,” he said, referring the civil suit filed by Musa against current Chief Minister Shafie Apdal.
Sri Ram meanwhile said RM5 million was a sufficient amount given the gravity of the accusations.
“We are ready for the trial,” he said. “His case was investigated for a long time and closed for a reason I am unable to explain.”