JOHOR BARU, March 29 ― A 43-year-old ministry enforcement assistant pleaded guilty at the Sessions Court here for accepting a RM700 bribe and failing to report it to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in May last year.
The accused Muhammad Basri Bonari confessed to accepting the bribe after the charge was read to him by an interpreter in front of Judge Datuk Ahmad Kamal Arifin Ismail.
According to the charge, Muhammad Basri, in his capacity as a civil servant under the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (KPDNHEP), was given a RM700 bribe by the general manager of a company dealing in a controlled goods business in Muar.
The bribe was an inducement not to take any action against the business owner.
The offence was committed at the company's store in Muar at 4.55pm on May 10.
Muhammad Basri later failed to report the incident to the MACC.
For the offense, the accused was charged under Section 25 (1) of the MACC Act 2009 and can be punished under Section 25 (2) of the same Act, which provides for a maximum fine of RM100,000 or imprisonment for up to 10 years or both.
The charge was an alternative one read to the accused in court after he pleaded not guilty to an initial charge.
In mitigation, Muhammad Basri’s counsel Tan Song Yan, asked that the court not to impose a jail sentence on the accused as he had pleaded guilty and it was his first offense.
He also said the accused has to care of his three children, elderly parents and 80-year-old mother-in-law.
MACC prosecuting officer Ikhwan Ihsan Jalaludin suggested that the court set an appropriate sentence for the accused as his actions could affect the reputation of the government agency.
Ahmad Kamal then ordered Muhamad Basri to pay the RM2,000 fine in default of one month jail.
The accused paid the fine.
