THE Ayer Keroh Sessions Court today fined a former traffic policeman with the rank of corporal RM30,000, 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 jail term in lieu of the fine, if Mohd Hanif Mohamad Zakri, 37, was unable to settle it.

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 Bhd between January 14 and December 12, 2017.

The charge, under section 165 of the penal code carries a sentence of up to two years’ jail, fine or both.

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. 

Lawyer Azrul Zulkifli Stork, however, pleaded for leniency, stating that his client was the sole breadwinner for his family, who included an elderly mother and younger sibling still at school.

He said Hanif has been working as a fishmonger since he was sacked from his job. – Bernama, July 4, 2023.