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KUALA LUMPUR: An immigration officer was charged today with 17 counts of receiving RM21,500 in bribes from a woman to free foreign nationals who violated immigration laws.
He was charged with allowing foreigners to leave the country via Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (klia2) without taking action against them.
However, Mohd Al-Ridhuan Ahmad Zaini, 35, pleaded not guilty after all the charges against him were read before Judge Rozina Ayob.
According to all charges, he allegedly accepted bribes amounting to RM21,500 from a Nur Amanina Maulad Adnan, through Maybank and CIMB accounts, into a Muamalat Bank account belonging to Syarikat Entiti Maju Enterprise owned by his wife Nurul Natasha Andrew.
The bribe was allegedly obtained for him as a KP19 grade officer in exchange for allowing foreigners who had committed crimes under the Immigration Act 1959/1963 (Act 155) to leave Malaysia via klia2 without taking legal action .
All crimes were allegedly committed at Jalan Tasik Utama 7, Medan Niaga Tasik Damai here between July 25 and November 11.
The charges carry a maximum jail sentence of 20 years and a fine of five times the value of the crime committed or RM10,000, or whichever is greater, upon conviction.
Deputy Prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin requested bail of RM80,000 with a guarantee and with additional conditions that the defendant hand over his passport to the court and not interfere with the witnesses in the case.
“This is a serious crime and the way in which the accused committed the crimes is the way of a traitor to the country,” he said.
Lawyer Harcharanjit Singh, who represented the defendant, requested that the bail amount be lowered to RM20,000 on the grounds that his client had three young children, between the ages of two and seven, and that his client had fully cooperated throughout the investigation. .
Rozina posted bail of RM30,000 with a guarantee for all charges along with additional conditions that the defendant must appear once a month at MACC headquarters in Putrajaya, to hand over his passport to the court and prohibited the defendant from approaching or disturbing from witnesses until the case is resolved.
The court set January 12 of next year to be mentioned.
On November 28, the media reported that 65 people, including 39 immigration officers, 17 agents, and nine civilians, were detained in “Ops Selat.”
The operation was launched by MACC in collaboration with the Department of Immigration to root out corrupt unions who misuse entry and exit stamps to allow illegal immigrants to cross the country’s borders.
