Halim, 57, claimed trial after the charge was read to him before judge Anita Harun.

Halim, who was then a secretary in the maritime division of the transport ministry, was accused of deceiving then marine department director-general Baharin Abdul Hamid by producing a letter purportedly from the transport ministry.

The letter, dated Oct 27, 2020, allegedly stated that the then transport minister had decided that the period for shipping companies given exemption to ship heavy grade oil in Malaysian waters should be maintained according to the approved dates.

Based on the charge sheet, no such approval was actually given by the minister.

The letter allegedly prompted Baharin to issue an exemption letter to the related shipping companies, which he would not have done if he hadn’t been deceived by the accused.

The incident allegedly took place at the marine department headquarters in Port Klang on Oct 27, 2020.

The charge was framed under Section 417 of the Penal Code for cheating, punishable by five years’ imprisonment, a fine, or both, upon conviction.

The court allowed the accused bail of RM20,000 with one surety and ordered him to report to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s office in Selangor once a month.

The judge also ordered the accused to surrender his passport until the disposal of the case.

The court fixed Oct 7 for case mention.

The accused was represented by lawyer Farhan Read, while Feisal Azmi and Muaz Khairuddin appeared for the prosecution team.