Op Selat: Seven immigration officers charged in five state sessions courts

KUALA LUMPUR: Seven Immigration officers were charged in five separate state Sessions Courts following the recent Op Selat, with three of them sentenced to between 30 days and 12 months in prison and fined between RM12,000 and RM30,000 after pleading guilty to their respective charges.

Op Selat was launched by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in cooperation with the Immigration Department to eradicate corruption syndicates in forging entry stamps at the country’s borders.

All the officers face charges of accepting money from individuals who have official working ties with them, under Section 165 of the Penal Code which provides for imprisonment not exceeding two years and a fine or both, and all offences were allegedly committed between April 2018 to Sept 22, this year.

They also face optional charges of failing to report the bribery offences to the MACC in connection with the abuse of entry and exit stamps on foreign passports, under Section 25 (1) of the MACC Act 2009 and is punishable under Section 25 (2) of the same act which provides for a fine not exceeding RM100,000 or imprisonment not exceeding 10 years or both.

At the Johor Bahru Sessions Court, Azhar Ahmad M Salbi, 27, who works at the Immigration Department in Bangunan Sultan Iskandar, Johor Bahru, was jailed for 12 months and fined RM20,000 or six months in prison after pleading guilty to failing to report a bribe of RM1,250 given to him by two men through a savings account belonging to the accused, at CIMB Bank Bhd, Jalan Genuang, Segamat.

At the same court, Syafik Abu Khalipah, 25, who also works at the Immigration Department of the same branch, pleaded not guilty to seven charges of accepting RM24,395 from two same men in Larkin Perdana, Johor Bahru and two optional charges of failing to report bribes of RM24,395 given to him by the same individuals.

At the Butterworth Sessions Court, Akashah Roslan, 38, who works at the Immigration Department, in Bangunan Sultan Iskandar, Johor, was jailed for 30 days and fined RM12,000 or four months in jail, after pleading guilty to three charges of obtaining RM3,060 from a man, through a CIMB savings account belonging to the accused, at Jalan Mahsuri, Bandar Bayan Baru, Butterworth.

At the Melaka Sessions Court, Muhammad Shafiq Suboh, 29, who works at the Immigration Department in Bangunan Sultan Iskandar, Johor, was fined RM30,000 or 18 months imprisonment after pleading guilty to three optional charges of failing to report to the MACC bribes amounting to RM1,480 given to him by a man, at CIMB Bank Berhad in Taman Mutiara Melaka, Batu Berendam, Melaka.

At the Kota Bharu Court, Mohamad Hariss Rosli, 27, who is working at Immigration Department in Johor, faces 31 charges of obtaining money amounting to RM132,020 from several individuals with official working relationships through his Maybank Islamic account in Kota Bharu, Kelantan.

The accused, however, only pleaded guilty to 18 charges involving a sum of RM51,300 and the court set Dec 22 for sentencing.

In the same court, Fasmawi Ab Wahab, 24, who also works at the Immigration Department, Johor, pleaded guilty to two charges of accepting RM1,400 from an individual through his Maybank Islamic Berhad account at Jalan Hulu Pasar, Tumpat, Kelantan, and the court set Dec 22 for sentencing.

At the Shah Alam Sessions Court, Baliyan Mohd Bhanudin, 32, who works at the Immigration Department, in Bangunan Sultan Iskandar, Johor, pleaded not guilty to four charges of obtaining RM7,120 from two individuals and four optional charges of failing to report to the MACC the same amount of bribes. given to him by the same individual, at a bank in Section 20, Shah Alam.

The court set Jan 18 next year for re-mention of the case.

Meanwhile, at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court, Bangladeshi, Ahmmed Md Rana, 37, was fined RM10,000 or jailed for 12 months after pleading guilty to offering RM8,500 bribes to an Immigration officer of Kuala Lumpur International Airport immigration checkpoint in Sepang as payment to allow eight of his compatriots to return to their country without facing legal action, at Precinct 8, Putrajaya, last month.

He was sentenced under Section 214 of the Penal Code (Act 574) which provides for a maximum jail term of 10 years or a fine or both.

-- BERNAMA