Man fined RM27,000 in Miri for committing three corruption offences

A MACC officer escorts the accused outside the Special Corruption Court at Miri Courthouse today.

MIRI (Jan 6): A 43-year-old man has been fined a total of RM27,000 in default of six months’ imprisonment by a special corruption court here today for committing three corruption offences.

Judge Nixon Kennedy Kumbong ordered the accused, Sim Lei Yean to pay the fine by today.

Sim faced three main charges under Section 16 (b) (A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Act 2009 which is punishable under Section 24(1) of the same Act, which carries a maximum jail term of 20 years and a fine of RM10,000 or five times the amount of the bribe, whichever is higher, if convicted.

For the first main charge, Sim was charged with giving a gratification, cash money of RM2,000 to Wan Abdul Aziz Wan Habib as an inducement for the latter to reduce the electricity tariff of Sesco bills registered under the names of Winnie Fu Wan Chin and Kho Siew Ping.

He committed the offence on April 4, 2017 at 2.20pm in a restaurant of a hotel here.

For the second and third main charges, Sim had given gratification of cash money amounting to RM5,000 and RM20,000 to Wan Abdul Aziz Wan Habib so that action would not taken against him for conducting meter tempering activities and illegal electricity connection supply at the premises here.

He committed the offence on Aug 9, 2017 at around 1pm at the Old Town White Coffee Restaurant here and on March 7, 2019 at 2.30pm at a food court at Permaisuri Imperial City Mall respectively.

Sim was also charged with three alternative charges for bribing Wan Abdul Aziz, at the same time and place. The offences were framed under Section 214 (Act 574) of the Penal Code, punishable by a maximum jail term of two years, or a fine, or both, upon conviction.

In his mitigation plea, Sim pleaded for leniency as he is unemployed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and that he is married with four children. He also promised not to repeat the same mistakes.

However, deputy public prosecutor Nur Nisla Abd Latiff from Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) asked for a deterrent sentence so as to serve as a lesson to the public not to offer bribe to escape punishment.

After taking into consideration their mitigation plea, Nixon sentenced Sim to a RM2,000 fine in default one month’s imprisonment for the first main charge, and a RM5,000 fine in default two months’ imprisonment for the second main charge.

As for the third main charge, he was fined RM20,000 in default four months’ imprisonment.

The post Man fined RM27,000 in Miri for committing three corruption offences appeared first on Borneo Post Online.

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