Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia's former immigration chief was charged Tuesday with accepting bribes worth 60,000 ringgit (18,000 dollars) to speed up visas for more than 4,300 Bangladeshi workers.

Former immigration director-general Abdul Wahid Mohamad Don pleaded not guilty to the charges and was released on a 50,000-ringgit bail, the official Bernama news agency said.

Abdul Wahid was accused of accepting the bribe on 10 July to expedite visa approvals for 4,337 Bangladeshis. He was arrested two days later by the Anti-Corruption Agency.

If found guilty, he faces up to 20 years in jail and a fine of 300,000 ringgit. The court set a trial date for May, Bernama said.

Abdul Wahid's case is one of many recent arrests of top government officials found to have abused their powers for personal gain.

Last week, the head of Malaysia's Tourism Promotion Board was charged with accepting free dental treatment worth almost 14,000 ringgit from a company that he allegedly gave contracts to.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had pledged to clamp down on the country's widespread corruption when he came into power in 2003, but critics said the recent cases are merely the tip of the iceberg and that many other guilty senior bureaucrats go unpunished. (dpa)