KUALA LUMPUR: Two brothers were charged in the sessions court here today with trying to bribe a senior police officer with RM25,000 to avoid prosecution for illegally distributing alcoholic beverages.
Store owner A Vijayakumar, 47, and his assistant, Ragubathi, 42, pleaded not guilty before judge Azura Alwi.
They were charged with intending to bribe ASP Suhaimi Omar, 47, of the Special Branch division of the Bukit Aman internal security and public order department.
The bribe was alleged to be an inducement for Suhaimi to release them from prosecution under Section 135 of the Customs Act 1967 for selling alcoholic beverages without paying tax.
The offence is alleged to have taken place at a restaurant in Plaza Metro Prima, Kepong, on June 28 last year.
The charge was framed under Section 17(b) read with Section 34 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009.
If convicted, Vijayakumar and Ragubathi face a maximum jail term of 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the value of the bribe.
Azura set bail of RM20,000 with one surety for each accused and ordered them to report to the Selangor MACC office once a month until the disposal of their case.
She also ordered them to surrender their passports to the court.
Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Irna Julieza Maaras sought bail of RM30,000 with one surety for each accused.
Lawyer R Mahendran Naidu requested a lower bail, asking the court to consider that the charge only involved RM25,000.
The next case mention is fixed on May 23 for the prosecution to deliver documents relevant to the case to both accused.