Mohd Dzulfadzli Mohammad Noor (second, right), V Venisan Raj (third, right) and Shafiul Kamal Salleh (left) being escorted by MACC officers at the Sessions Court. — Bernama photo
JOHOR BAHARU: Three policemen – a Lance Corporal and two Constables – pleaded not guilty at the Sessions Court here yesterday on the charge of soliciting and accepting bribes totaling RM3,050 last year.
V.Venisan Raj, 31; Mohd Dzulfadzli Mohammad Noor, 29; and Shafiul Kamal Salleh, 39, made the plea after the charges were read separately before Judge Mohamad Haldar Abdul Aziz.
Two of them faced a separate charge each, and all three faced two charges together in asking for and accepting bribes from a Vietnamese employee, Nguyen Van Tuan, as an inducement to not take action against the man who had no valid work permit.
For the separate charges, Mohd Dzulfadzli was accused of accepting a bribe of RM1,000 while Venisan was accused of accepting a bribe of RM550. They were alleged to have committed the offences at two different locations, namely in a house and commercial premises at Jalan Jasa Indah 4, Taman Jasa Indah and Taman Desa Harta Emas, Parit Semerah in Pontian, between 2.47 pm and 5 pm between March 19 and April 17.
The trio were jointly charged with soliciting bribes from Nguyen twice, each amounting to RM1,000 and RM1,500, in a house at Jalan Jasa Indah 4, Taman Jasa Indah and in front of a shop at Jalan Utama Taman Damai, Pontian between 2 pm and 5.30 pm between March 19 to April 1.
The charges under Section 16(a)(B) and 17(a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act, provide jail term of up to 20 years and fine RM10,000 or five times the amount of the bribe, whichever is higher.
MACC Deputy Public Prosecutor Ridzuan Abd Malik prosecuted, while the accused were unrepresented. The court allowed all of them bail at RM5,000 each, and set Feb 15 for case management. — Bernama