SHAH ALAM, Jan 12 (Bernama) -- A factory worker pleaded not guilty in the Sessions Court today to offering a RM10,000 bribe to a Tenaga Nasional Bhd officer in August last year as an inducement to refrain from taking action against him for theft of electricity.
Loh Kok Fei, 35, was charged under Section 17 (b) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Act 2009 and faces a maximum 20-year jail sentence and a fine of five times the amount of bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
He is accused of having offered RM5,000 cash and a cheque for RM5,000 dated 21 August 2010 to Rumaizi Mohd Amin, senior manager of TNB''s Investigation and Intelligence Unit, at the Starbucks Restaurant in Amcorp Mall, Petaling Jaya, on Aug 20 last year.
The bribe was an inducement for action not to be taken against him for having stolen electricity at the Sin Thiang Hong Trading factory in the Desa Cemerlang Industrial Park in Ulu Tiram, Johor.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohammad Heikal Ismail asked the court to set bail at RM20,000.
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COURT-ELECTRICITY 2 (LAST) SHAH ALAM
Loh''s counsel Mohamed Harmy Yusuff pleaded for a RM5,000 bail, saying his client was no longer working at the factory and his recycling business was not doing well, and that he had to take care of his 68-year-old mother and 87-year-old grandmother.
Judge Azhaniz Teh Azman Teh set bail at RM7,000 with one surety.
