{
  "id": 3866558,
  "title": "Saravanan charged with receiving RM1.097mil in bribes over foreign worker quotas",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/28/saravanan-charged-with-receiving-rm1-097mil-in-bribes-over-foreign",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-28T01:29:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2026/08/28/saravanan-charged-with-receiving-rm1-097mil-in-bribes-over-foreign-worker-quotas"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Former Malaysian human resources minister M Saravanan, 58, has pleaded not guilty to charges of accepting RM1.097 million in bribes from Vectica Resources Sdn Bhd director Tan Teck Lim. The accused received the money in three separate payments between June and July 2022 to facilitate the approval of foreign worker quotas for TYKB Engineering Sdn Bhd. Saravanan allegedly accepted RM150,000 in cash on June 16, RM350,000 on July 7, and RM597,000 via a Maybank Islamic cheque on the same day. All three charges are under Section 16(a)(B) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 and carry a maximum penalty under Section 24(1) of the same Act.",
  "summary": "The former human resources minister pleads not guilty to three charges under the MACC Act 2009.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 4,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Free Malaysia Today",
        "title": "Saravanan charged with receiving RM1.097mil in bribes over foreign worker quotas",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/28/saravanan-charged-with-receiving-rm1-097mil-in-bribes-over-foreign-3867738",
        "published": "2026-08-28T01:29:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Malaysiakini",
        "title": "Saravanan pleads not guilty to receiving RM1.097m bribes",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/28/saravanan-pleads-not-guilty-to-receiving-rm1-097m-bribes",
        "published": "2026-08-28T01:35:18.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "New Straits Times",
        "title": "Saravanan pleads not guilty to accepting RM1.1mil in bribes over foreign worker quotas",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/28/saravanan-pleads-not-guilty-to-accepting-rm1-1mil-in-bribes-over",
        "published": "2026-08-28T01:49:19.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}