KUALA LUMPUR: A nephew and a former employeee of former Sungai Buloh MP R Sivarasa were acquitted and discharged by the sessions court today of three counts of soliciting and accepting bribes amounting to RM65,000 from a foreigner.
K Naveen and Nico Kam were accused of soliciting the bribe to “close a case” regarding abuse of academic credentials for the admission of foreign workers by a company.
Judge Azura Alwi granted the acquittal as sought by lawyer M Puravelan, who represented Naveen, and Ramesh Sivakumar, who appeared for Kam.
Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Norhalis Mat informed Azura the Attorney-General’s Chambers had agreed to withdraw the charges after accepting representations made on behalf of the two accused persons.
“However, we are seeking a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA),” she said.
A DNAA would have allowed the prosecution to proceed with the case against the duo at any time in the future.
Ramesh objected, saying a DNAA would leave the duo uncertain of their fate. He pointed out that the alleged offences for which they were charged date back to 2017, but charges were only brought early last year.
“The charges cannot be hanging on their heads if the prosecution has decided to discontinue the case,” he said.
Puravelan said this matter must be brought to finality and the court has the final discretion to decide whether his client is to be set free.
The judge allowed a full discharge after Norhalis left the matter to the discretion of the court.
Azura also ordered that the bail of RM10,000 posted by the duo’s bailors be refunded and vacated the trial dates which were scheduled for next week.
On Jan 24 last year, the two pleaded not guilty to three charges under Section 16(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009.
Naveen and Kam were slapped with three charges of soliciting bribes totalling RM130,000 from a Bangladeshi businessman who had allegedly brought migrant workers with false professional credentials into the country.
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