JOHOR BARU: An Immigration officer with 18 years of service has claimed trial at the Sessions Court here to 10 counts of accepting bribes amounting to RM55,150.
Mohd Edisahril Mohd Noor, 41, pleaded not guilty when the charges were read before Sessions judge Datuk Ahmad Kamal Arifin Ismail here on Monday (Oct 7).
According to the facts of the case, he allegedly accepted bribes ranging from RM3,000 to RM10,000 on 10 separate occasions from an individual, with the funds being deposited into the bank account of a company owned by his wife.
The bribes, totaling RM55,150, were allegedly given as inducements for him to facilitate the entry of Indonesian citizens into Malaysia without adherence to the Immigration Act 1959/63.
Edisahril, who works at the Bangunan Sultan Ismail (BSI) Immigration office, is accused of committing the offences at a bank in Bandar Baru Uda between Nov 4 last year and Feb 23 this year.
He was charged under Section 16(a)(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, which carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of not less than five times the value of the bribe, or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
The accused also faces 10 alternative charges under Section 165 of the Penal Code for allegedly obtaining valuable things without consideration from a person concerned with his official functions during the same period and location.
If convicted, he could face up to two years in jail, a fine, or both.
Edisahril also pleaded not guilty to the alternative charges when they were read before the judge.
DPP Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin requested that bail be set between RM15,000 and RM20,000 owing to the seriousness of the case.
Wan Shaharuddin also asked the court to impose additional conditions requiring the accused to surrender his passport and report to the Johor MACC office once a month.
Edisahril's lawyer, Mohd Shahrullah Khan Nawab Zadah Khan, requested a lower bail, saying the accused was a father of three, and had cooperated throughout the investigation.
Ahmad Kamal Arifin set bail at RM10,000 with one surety and imposed the additional conditions proposed by the prosecution.
He then set Nov 10 for the next mention of the case and document submission.
The accused posted bail.
