Retired officer from Geoscience Dept fined RM16k for graft

IPOH: A retired Perak Mineral and Geoscience Department officer was fined RM16,000 in default of five months jail by the sessions court here today after he pleaded guilty to accepting an RM300 bribe two years ago.
Judge S. Indera Nehru handed down the sentence after R. Thangavelu, aged 61, pleaded guilty after the charge was read out to him.
The accused changed his plea after having pleaded not guilty during an earlier hearing.
According to the facts of the case, Thangavelu, who was formerly attached with the department's technical services division was said to have received the bribe from a businessman Mohamad Imran Abdullah, who had official dealings with him.
He had committed the offence at the department's geochemistry office at Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah here at about 4.10pm on Sept 4, 2015.
Earlier DPP Nurul Wahida Jalaluddin from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission said the sentence meted out must be equivalent to the offence committed.
Counsel M.Kathan appeared for the accused.