KOTA KINABALU, Feb 8 ― A former senior manager of a government-linked company (GLC) in Sabah was sentenced to six months’ jail and fined RM295,000 by the Sessions Court here today for accepting bribes totalling RM59,000 in 2017.

Judge Abu Bakar Manat handed down the sentence after Sufian Abdul Ghani, 51, pleaded guilty to three counts of accepting the bribes as an inducement to smoothen the claims made by Shadaz Enterprise to the Warehouse and Logistics Management Department of Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd and to enable the company to secure other emergency contracts from the government agency.

On the first count, Sufian was charged with accepting RM44,000 from Nordin Abdillah through a cheque from Shadaz Enterprise which was deposited into a CIMB Bank account under the name of Syarikat Binoun Jaya owned by Sham Charles William at Inanam branch CIMB Bank, Jalan Tuaran, here on March 9, 2017.

He was also charged with accepting a cheque of RM10,000 from Phang Thou Kim in a house in Kampung Seroja, Likas, on May 4, 2017, and another RM5,000 from the same man, which was deposited into his Maybank account on October 16 the same year.

Sufian was sentenced to six months’ jail and fined RM220,000 for the first charge, six months’ jail and fined RM50,000 for the second charge and six months’ jail and fined RM25,000 for the third charge.

The judge ordered Abu Bakar to serve the six months’ jail sentences concurrently from today and to serve another five months in prison for failing to pay the fines.

Sufian was charged under Section 16(a)(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009.

Earlier in mitigation, counsel Viviana Chew asked the court for lighter penalties as the accused is now working as a part-time tutor at a private college and earning only RM1,400 per semester while having health issues and supporting his family.

MACC prosecution officer Norsham Baharom, however, pressed for deterrent punishment due to the severity of the offence. ― Bernama