Three cops claim trial to accepting RM20,000 in bribes

New Straits Times

22-05-2025

IPOH: Three police officers were charged in the Sessions Court here today with two counts of accepting RM20,000 in bribes.
The accused, Lance Corporal Ahmad Rabani Rusnizal, 29; Lance Corporal Mohamad Shukre Mohamed Rowi, 37; and former Corporal Wan Mohd Nor Imran Wan Seman, 35, pleaded not guilty before Judge Meor Sulaiman Ahmad Tarmizi to both charges read jointly in court.
According to the first charge, the three, who were serving at the Merbok Police Station in Kedah at the time of the offence, were accused of jointly and corruptly receiving a RM10,000 bribe.
The payment was transferred from an AM Bank Islamic account belonging to Azizi Norhafizi Abu Bakar into a BSN bank account owned by Ahmad Rabani.
The bribe was allegedly given as an inducement for the accused not to take action against Azizi for possessing methamphetamine, an offence under the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
The act was said to have occurred at BSN-CPI Kamunting, in the Larut, Matang & Selama district, around 3am on July 24, 2023.
For the second charge, all three accused were again alleged to have jointly and corruptly received another RM10,000 bribe — also transferred from Azizi's AM Bank Islamic account to Ahmad Rabani's BSN account.
The inducement was for the same reason as the first charge, for not taking action against Azizi for methamphetamine possession, which is an offence under the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
This second offence allegedly took place at the same location (BSN-CPI Kamunting) at around 3am on the following day, July 25, 2023.
If convicted, the offence under both charges carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the amount of the bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher, for each charge.
The prosecution was led by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) prosecuting officer, Mohd Zulfadli Azharudin, while all three accused were represented by lawyer Siti Salwa Ja'afar.
Zulfadli proposed bail of RM10,000 with one surety for each accused, along with an additional condition that they report to the MACC office in Sungai Petani, Kedah, on the first Sunday of every month until the case concludes.
However, Siti Salwa requested a lower bail amount, citing the accused's monthly income of around RM1,700 and family obligations, including the fact that Wan Mohd Nor Imran is now working as a lorry driver after leaving the police force.
The judge granted bail at RM5,000 each and allowed the additional condition requested by the prosecution.
He also set June 26 as the next mention date for document submission.
All the accused posted bail.