JOHOR BAHRU: A police officer with the rank of ASP at the Johor Contingent Police Headquarters pleaded not guilty at the Johor Bahru Sessions Court to three charges of soliciting and accepting bribes totalling RM75,000 three years ago.
The accused, ASP Mohd Khairul Saberi Nyan, 41, made the plea after the charges were read out before Judge Datuk Ahmad Kamal Arifin Ismail.
According to the first charge, the accused allegedly solicited a bribe of RM50,000 from a man at the department’s office at about 6pm on Oct 12, 2022.
For the second and third charges, the father of three was charged with receiving bribes amounting to RM10,000 and RM15,000 from the same individual at a restaurant near Seri Alam at 9pm on Dec 5, 2022 and at a petrol station here at 2pm on Dec 14, 2022.
All the acts were allegedly made as an inducement to settle the case faced by the individual involving a non-existent diesel oil buying and selling business offer.
Meanwhile, in the same court, a police officer with the rank of Sergeant pleaded not guilty to two charges of obtaining and agreeing to accept bribes involving RM5,000 last year.
The accused, Michael Anak Umap, 50, a policeman on duty at the Criminal Investigation Division (BSJ) of the Johor Bahru Selatan District Police Headquarters (IPD), allegedly obtained for himself RM1,000 into his bank account from a woman at a bank near Kluang.
For the second charge, the accused was also charged with receiving a bribe of RM4,000 from the woman at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Johor office at 4.45pm.
The two acts, which were allegedly committed on Aug 25, 2024, were as an inducement to help reduce the sentence on the woman’s ex-husband who is being investigated by BSJ IPD JBS.
Both accused face a maximum jail term of 20 years and a fine of five times the value of the bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
The case was handled by Deputy Public Prosecutors from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Siti Asmah Zainal Ariffin and Muhammad Asraf Mohamed Tahir, while the two accused were represented by lawyer Atuffah Said.
The court then granted Mohd Khairul Saberi bail of RM12,000, while Michael was granted bail of RM7,000.
They are also subject to additional conditions to surrender their international passports to the court and report to the Johor MACC Office once a month.
Both cases are set for mention again on March 13 for the submission of documents.
