KUALA LUMPUR: Two people have pled not guilty in the Sessions Court here to a charge of giving a bribe amounting to RM17,000 to a registration assistant at the National Registration Department (NRD) in Putrajaya to facilitate a birth certificate application using forged supporting documents.
Yap Foo Siong, 57, a labourer, and Ang Lay Peng, 40, a food vendor, were jointly charged yesterday with giving a cash bribe to a registration assistant of Grade KP1 as a reward for assisting in the birth certificate application process using forged supporting documents, namely the birth registration document, JPN.LM01, as well as a birth confirmation letter.
The duo were accused of committing the offence at a fast food restaurant in Presint 2, Putrajaya, at 9.50am on March 11.
The charge is framed under Section 17(b) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009, read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and a fine of five times the value of the bribe or RM10,000, if convicted, Bernama reported.
Selangor Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) branch prosecuting officer Muhammad Arif Asyraf Mohd Khairi offered bail of RM90,000 for each accused. with additional conditions of having their passports surrendered to the court, reporting to the MACC office once a month and being prohibited from interfering with prosecution witnesses.
Lawyer Ethan WH Tan, who represented both accused, applied for bail of RM2,000 for each accused on the grounds that his clients had to support their families.
Judge Suzana Hussin allowed each accused a bail of RM10,000 in one surety, along with additional conditions as requested by the prosecution.
She also set April 22 for mention.
