MELAKA: A former traffic policeman with the rank of corporal was fined RM30,000 at the Ayer Keroh Sessions Court here today, after he pleaded guilty to a secondary charge of receiving bribes amounting to RM3,600 to protect the lorries of a transport company from being issued summons in 2017.
Judge Elesabet Paya Wan also imposed an eight-month imprisonment term in lieu of the fine, if Mohd Hanif Mohamad Zakri, 37, was unable to settle it.
Mohd Hanif, who was stationed at the Jasin district police headquarters, was accused of accepting a monthly bribe of RM300 from a transport company manager at the Ayer Keroh branch of Maybank Islamic Berhad between January 14 and December 12, 2017.
The charge under Section 165 of the Penal Code carries a sentence of up to two years imprisonment or fine or both, upon conviction.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission deputy public prosecutor Irwan Shah Abdul Samat had earlier called for a stiffer sentence as the case involved a civil servant abusing his position to obtain illegal gains while on duty.
Defence counsel Azrul Zulkifli Stork, however, pleaded for a lesser penalty stating that his client was the sole breadwinner for his family, which included an elderly mother and younger sibling still at school.
He said Mohd Hanif has been working as a fishmonger since he was sacked from his job.-Bernama