KUALA LUMPUR: A Vietnamese woman with a ‘Datuk’ title cried when she was charged with two counts of offering bribes totalling RM350,000 to a Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) officer six months ago.
Tran Thi Mai, 41, also known as Datuk Maimunah, allegedly offered the kickback to a middleman, to be given to MMEA Sedili district director Amran Daud.
In the first charge, Tran, a mother of four, was alleged to have offered RM300,000 as an inducement for Amran to secure the release of three Vietnam fishing vessels that were caught in Malaysian waters.
She was alleged to have committed the offence near Park Royal Hotel between 6pm and 7.30pm on May 2.
In the second charge, Tran claimed trial to bribing Amran with RM50,000 for the same reason at Pearl Points mall about 4pm on May 12.
Tran was charged under Section 16(b)(B) of the Malaysian Anti - Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, which carries a maximum 20 years’ jail, and a fine of not less than five times the bribe amount, or RM10,000, whichever is higher.
MACC deputy public prosecutor Wan Ahmad Nizam Wan Omar prosecuted, while the accused was represented by counsel G.K. Sritharan.
Nizam appealed to the court to deny bail as the offence was non-bailable.
“If the court wants to impose bail, it should not be less than RM500,000,” he said.
Sritharan argued for lower bail, saying his client was a participant of the Malaysia My Second Home programme and had been living in the country for 17 years.
“She has two daughters who are still study at an international school in Pahang,” he said.
The court set bail at RM250,000 with two Malaysian sureties and fixed Dec 20 for mention.