IPOH, March 2 — A Royal Malaysian Navy officer was sentenced to eight months in prison and fined RM80,000 or another 10 months imprisonment today, for corruptly accepting a watch and mobile phone worth RM94,216.
Kapten Abdul Aziz Gaffor, 56, was meted out the punishment after changing his plea to guilty at the Sessions Court here.
He admitted accepting a RM57,071 Rolex watch in March 2014 and a RM37,145 Vertu mobile phone in December 2014 from one Hussin Roslim@Roslind while aware that the latter’s companies had connections with his official responsibilities.
He committed the two offences at Persiaran Venice Intan 5/1 Desa Manjung Raya Seri Manjung, Manjung, in his capacity as commanding officer at the RMN Armada Supplies Depot in Lumut.
Judge S. Indra Nehru also ordered Abdul Aziz’s property worth about RM300,000 to be forfeited.
Earlier in mitigation, counsel Zamri Idrus who led Abdul Aziz’s panel of lawyers which also comprised Collin Andrew and Fadly Hashim, urged the court not to impose a custodial sentence but just a fine.
“The accused has lost his pension and gratuity amounting to RM1 million for his service since 1979 and this directly saved cost for the Malaysian government.
“The court should also take into account the humiliation suffered by the accused from the first day till today.
“It will carry on because the case involving his arrest received major media coverage in which his photograph and name were publicised throughout Malaysia,” said Zamry.
However, deputy public prosecutor Norzilati Izhani Zainal@Zainol who represented the prosecution with DPP Abdul Rashid Sulaiman called for a deterrent sentence.
“The defence should bear in mind the effect and consequences of the accused’s action. As such, the prosecution once again urge the court to impose an appropriate punishment on the accused,” she said.
Abdul Aziz initially claimed trial when charged on Sept 9, 2015. — Bernama
