KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 17 — An assistant manager in the editorial department of an English daily, The Star, was sentenced to 30 months’ jail and fined RM100,000, in default 10 months’ jail, by the Sessions Court here today after he was found guilty of receiving RM20,000 bribe in May last year.
Judge Madihah Harullah imposed the sentence on M. Youganesparan, 54, after ruling that the prosecution had proven the case beyond reasonable doubt.
Youganesparan was charged with receiving the money from Mohd Emir Mavani Abdullah, 54, as an inducement to get the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to close a case against him.
The offence was committed at Dome Cafe, Vista Power, The Intermark, Jalan Tun Razak, here at 9.15pm on May 30, 2017.
The charge, under Section 16(a)(B) of the MACC Act 2009 and punishable under Section 24 of the same law, provides a jail term for up to 20 years’ jail or a fine of RM10,000 or five times the bribe amount, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
The judge, however, granted the accused’s application for a stay of execution of the jail sentence pending an appeal, but ordered the notice of appeal to be filed immediately and the RM100,000 fine to be paid today as well as increased the bail on the accused from RM30,000 to RM40,000.
Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Abdul Rashid Sulaiman urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence stating that bribery was a serious offence and getting rampant.
In mitigation, counsel G. Shankar, representing Youganesparan, said his client was the sole breadwinner for the family and this was his first offence. — Bernama
