SHAH ALAM: An Immigration officer was charged with four counts of receiving RM7,120 in bribes from two individuals since September last year.
Baliyan Mohd Bhanudin pleaded not guilty when the charges were read to him before Sessions Court judge Rozilah Salleh today.
The 32-year-old officer also claimed trial to four alternative charges of misusing entry and exit stamps at Malaysian borders.
Baliyan who worked at the Sultan Iskandar Immigration Department office in Johor Baru was accused of receiving RM7,120 from two individuals aged 29 and 44 respectively.
The offence falls under Section 165 of the Penal Code which carries two years' jail or fine or both upon conviction.
For the alternative charges, he was accused of failure to report bribery to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) involving the same amount from the same persons.
The father of three was charged under Section 25(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 punishable under Section 25(2) of the same Act.
Deputy public prosecutor Fadhli Abdul Wahab asked the court to impose RM80,000 bail with one surety for all charges.
"This is a serious offence and we also want the court to seize the accused's passport," he said.
The accused who was unrepresented pleaded for minimum bail stating that he needed to support his family and ailing mother.
The court set RM50,000 bail for all charges and ordered the accused to surrender his passport tp the court.
The court also fixed Jan 18 for mention.
