TAWAU: A 44-year-old police inspector was discharged and acquitted by the Sessions Court here of two counts of accepting bribes totalling RM12,000, without his defence being called.
Judge Ahmad Faizadh Yahaya freed Inspector Mohamad Soffie Jalal after ruling that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against him.
Mohamad Soffie, who was attached to the Criminal Investigation Division as an investigation and legal officer, had been charged under Section 17(a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 with corruptly agreeing to accept RM5,000 from a man at the Lahad Datu district police headquarters on 1 March 2021.
The alleged sum was an inducement to omit taking action against the man for making a false police report and to return 22.5kg of seized swiftlet nests.
On the second count, he was accused of obtaining another RM7,000 bribe from the same individual on 4 March 2021 at the same location.
