ALOR STAR: The Sessions Court here fined a rubber wholesaler RM250,000 after he admitted to a charge of paying over half a million ringgit in bribes to cover up his illegal cryptocurrency mining operation.
Judge Harmi Thamri Mohamad passed down the sentence on Th'ng Kean Kai, 33, after he pleaded guilty to the charge filed under Section 214 of the Penal Code.
The charge carries up to 10 years' jail or a fine, or both upon conviction.
According to the facts of the case, the father of two had paid RM589,450 in bribes to an undercover Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officer.
The bribes were paid as an inducement not to prosecute him, after the accused was caught stealing electricity to carry out illegal Bitcoin mining activity.
According to the case facts, in Feb 2021, Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) and MACC had detected an electricity theft for illegal cryptocurrency mining activity.
TNB had informed MACC that the person behind the activity was willing to offer money to its staff to cover up the activity.
Acting on the information, an officer with MACC was placed undercover in the TNB's special unit dealing with electricity theft.
The accused had subsequently set up the first meeting with the undercover MACC officer at Emerald Putri Hotel in Sungai Petani on Aug 26, 2021, where he paid RM42,000 in bribe.
The next day, the accused paid another RM28,000 in cash as a bribe to the undercover officer at the same hotel.
Th'ng admitted that he had paid the bribes on four other separate occasions between Sept 29, 2021 until Feb 28, 2022 in Sungai Petani.
During the separate meetings, he had paid RM87,600; RM121,250; RM215,800 with the last payment worth RM94,800 made to the officer on Feb 28, 2022.
In total, the accused had paid RM589,450 in bribes to the undercover officer.
Lawyer Tengku Hezrul Anuar Tengku Abdul Samad who represented the accused pleaded for leniency as it was his client's first offence.
"The accused is the sole breadwinner for his family. He has two young children and also supporting his parent. His father suffers from diabetes and hypertension.
"My client has been cooperative since he was detained. He is fully remorseful and pledged not to get involved in such activities ever again," he told the court.
MACC deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib who appeared for prosecution, urged the court to impose a hefty sentence as a lesson to the accused as well as the public.
Judge Harmi Thamri passed down a fine of RM250,000 on the accused.
The court also ordered for the RM589,450 bribe paid by the accused to be surrendered to the National Treasury.