Civil servant, ex‑CEO plead not guilty to RM18,000 gold mining graft charges

A civil servant and a former chief executive officer today pleaded not guilty at the Sessions Court here to three corruption charges involving RM18,000 in bribes allegedly linked to facilitating gold mining operations in Sabah. — Unsplash pic

First Published: Monday, 28 Sep 2026 5:12 PM MYT

KOTA KINABALU, Sept 28 — A civil servant and a former chief executive officer today pleaded not guilty at the Sessions Court here to three corruption charges involving RM18,000 in bribes allegedly linked to facilitating gold mining operations in Sabah.

Robert Robin Millip, 60, then assistant director of the minerals division at the Sabah Lands and Surveys Department, is accused of receiving RM18,000 from Chong Tzu Khen, 69, who is charged with giving the bribes.

According to the charges, Chong allegedly gave Robert cash loans of RM10,000 in April 2024, RM3,000 in October 2024 and RM5,000 in October 2025 as an inducement to facilitate the company’s gold mining operations.

The three charges against Chong were framed under Section 17(b) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 and are punishable under Section 24(1), which provides for a maximum 20-year jail term and a fine of at least five times the amount or value of the bribe, or RM10,000, whichever is higher.

Robert was separately charged under Section 17(a) of the MACC Act 2009 with corruptly obtaining the three cash loans from Chong to facilitate the company’s gold mining operations, with the same penalties under Section 24(1).

Judge Andi Razalijaya A Dadi granted both men bail of RM8,000 each with two local sureties and ordered them to report to the nearest MACC office once a month, surrender their international passports and obtain court permission before leaving Malaysia.

The court also barred them from interfering with prosecution witnesses and set Oct 27 for case management, while the trial is scheduled for Jan 11 to 13, 2027. — Bernama