Immigration officer fined RM30,000 for not reporting bribery to MACC

Dina Azanina Morshidi leaving the Kuching Court after paying the fine.

KUCHING (July 31): A female immigration officer was slapped with a RM30,000 fine at the Session’s Court here yesterday after pleading guilty to two alternative charges for failing to report a bribery transaction amounting to RM8,200 to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

The two alternative charges against the accused were framed under Section 25(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 which is punishable under Section Section 25(2) of the same Act.

The fine was paid by the accused at the Kuching Court, moments after the court proceedings had ended.

Prior to pleading guilty to the two alternative charges, the accused Dina Azanina Morshidi, 41, was initially charged with 22 offences under Section 165 of the Penal Code for allegedly receiving RM109,600 in bribes that were paid in stages from Mohd Syah Ezyan Abd Rahman, a 34-year-old male immigration officer.

She was also charged with failing to report bribery transactions under Section 25(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 involving a sum of RM109,600.

However, all of the charges were dropped after the accused pleaded guilty to two of the alternative charges before Judge Steve Ritikos, who also ordered the accused to be jailed for ten months if she failed to pay the fine.

Meanwhile, the first alternative charge against the accused was for receiving a RM1,100 bribe from a representative from Doyan Enterprise.

The transaction was made via the bank account of the daughter of the accused on Nov 22, 2017 at a bank in Jalan Laksamana Cheng Ho.

The second alternative charge was for a similar transaction on Dec 5, 2017 involving a sum of RM7,100.

Based on the case’s description, the accused started receiving bribes in 2016 for allowing foreigners especially from China with various immigration offences to enter the state from the counter where she was stationed.

The bribe money was then deposited into her daughter’s account. It was also revealed that the accused’s daughter did not have any knowledge of the account.

It was also said that the accused had used the bribe money to purchase jewellery such as an anklet and a ring worth RM10,000.

According to the MACC investigation, the accused as of Nov 27 had accumulated a total of RM272,452.61 in her daughter’s bank account.

During the sentencing, Steve also ordered the seized jewellery and the money totalling RM200,000 inside the accused’s bank account to be released.

MACC deputy public prosecutor Nur Nisla Abdul Latif prosecuted while the accused was not represented.

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