JOHOR BARU: A police sergeant pleaded not guilty at the Sessions Court here today on a charge of receiving a RM20,000 bribe in a criminal breach of trust case two years ago.
S. Usha Nanthiny, 35, who serves at the Segamat police headquarters Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID), is alleged to have obtained a bribe for herself from a man in her office about 4.50pm on Aug 28, 2022.
The bribe is alleged to be an inducement not to arrest the man's wife for an offence she committed under Section 408 of the Penal Code which was being investigated by CCID.
The charge according to Section 17(a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 can be punished under Section 24(1) of the same act which provides for a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the value of the bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher, if convicted.
Judge Siti Noraida Sulaiman allowed the accused to be bailed at RM12,000 in one surety with the additional condition that the accused's passport be handed over to the court and that she report to the Segamat MACC office once a month.
The court fixed March 24 for re-mention of the case.
The prosecution was handled by MACC deputy public prosecutor Zander Lim Wai Keong while the accused, who is a mother of two children, was represented by lawyer S. Selvantheran. — Bernama