SHAH ALAM: An Immigration Department enforcement officer was fined RM10,000 by the Sessions Court today after he was caught red-handed receiving a RM2,500 bribe to free a foreign worker from detention last month.
Judge Datuk Anita Harun meted out the sentence on Raffidan Daud, 39, after he pleaded guilty to an alternative charge framed under Section 165 of the Penal Code.
She ordered Raffidan to be jailed 10 months if he fails to pay the fine.
The charge sheet read that he had received RM2,500 by hand from the foreigner's employer, Rusiah Dahari, from whom he had solicited the sum and was aware that his act was linked to his official duties.
He committed the offence between 1pm and 2pm at Kompleks PKNS in Section 14 on April 24.
The court heard how Raffidan fell into a trap set by the Selangor Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to arrest him after he demanded the sum from Rusiah to free her detained Bangladeshi worker.
Rusiah complained to the Selangor MACC and revealed a telephone conversation where Raffidan refused a lower bribe sum and promised to free the worker.
At about 1pm on April 25, the operation to trap Raffidan was launched and Rusiah had gone to meet him with the demanded sum at the complex's underground carpark.
The operation involved a MACC officer disguised as Rusiah's relative who witnessed the money being handed over to Raffidan about 1.50pm.
Raffidan was arrested 10 minutes later at the scene and the money, which was in RM50 notes, was seized from him by another MACC officer.
The court ordered the RM2,500, used to trap Raffidan while receiving the bribe, to be returned to the prosecution.
In mitigation, Raffidan's counsel C.R. Selva pleaded for a light sentence and not imprisonment as it was his client's first offence.
"He has been in service for 18 years, earning a RM2,800 basic monthly pay. He was once awarded with an excellent service award. His wife is pregnant and she is also an immigration officer," he said.
Deputy public prosecutor Muaz Ahmad Khairuddin, however, said bribery was rampant in the country and urged a deterrent sentence to be imposed.