JOHOR BARU: Two Johor policemen, including an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), pleaded not guilty to five corruption charges brought against them at the Sessions Court here.
The accused, ASP Mohd Khairul Saberi Nyan, 41, faces three charges, while Sergeant Michael Umap, 50, faces two. Both appeared before Sessions Judge Datuk Ahmad Kamal Ariffin Ismail on Tuesday (Jan 28).
In the first charge, ASP Mohd Khairul is accused of soliciting RM50,000 from 41-year-old Hanafi Hussin as an inducement to resolve a case involving the latter. Hanafi was under investigation for running a fraudulent business offering to buy and sell non-existent diesel, an offence under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
The alleged offence took place at the Johor police commercial crime department at the state police headquarters around 6pm on Oct 12, 2022.
ASP Mohd Khairul has been charged under Section 16(a)(B) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and a fine of no less than five times the bribe amount or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
In his second charge, he allegedly accepted RM10,000 in cash from Hanafi at a restaurant in a shopping mall in Seri Alam around 9pm on Dec 5, 2022.
For the third charge, he is accused of receiving RM15,000 in cash from the same individual at a petrol station on Jalan Tampoi at 2pm on Dec 14, 2022.
Both offences fall under Section 17(a) of the MACC Act 2009 and carry the same penalties as the first charge upon conviction.
Meanwhile, Sergeant Michael, who is attached to the Johor Baru South police district headquarters’ criminal investigation department, is charged with accepting RM1,000 from Ng Yoke Ting, 29, as an inducement to reduce her former husband’s sentence for an offence under Section 448 of the Penal Code.
He allegedly committed this offence at a bank in Kluang on Aug 25, 2023.
In a second charge, Sergeant Michael is accused of agreeing to accept RM4,000 from Ng for the same purpose at the Johor MACC headquarters at around 4.45pm on the same date.
Both charges are framed under Section 17(a) of the MACC Act 2009, which carries the same penalties as ASP Mohd Khairul’s charges.
Both accused pleaded not guilty to all charges. Judge Ahmad Kamal set March 13 as the case mention and date for case document submission.
Bail was set at RM12,000 for ASP Mohd Khairul and RM7,000 for Sergeant Michael. The court also ordered the accused to surrender their passports and report to the Johor MACC headquarters monthly until their cases are resolved.
MACC deputy public prosecutors Siti Asmah Zainal Ariffin and Muhammad Asraf Mohamed Tahir handled the cases, while lawyer Atuffah Said represented the accused.
