Judge Ahmad Kamal Arifin Ismail found Zulkifly Abd Za’par guilty of 19 offences under Section 16(a)(B) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act.

He was charged with seeking RM2,000 monthly and receiving RM50,000 in bribes from the two suppliers as an inducement to not take action against their undocumented foreign workers.

The court meted out a four-year jail sentence on each of the 19 charges but ordered the terms to run concurrently.

Zulkifly, who used to be attached to the immigration department’s anti-trafficking and anti-money laundering division, committed the offences in Johor Bahru between 2019 and 2020.

In finding him guilty, the court said Zulkifly failed to raise a reasonable doubt to the prosecution’s case.

Kamal said that, during the trial, Zulkifly had claimed the money he received from the suppliers were “consultant fees” for work done for the duo.

Zulkifly also alleged that an MACC officer, Rasyidi Said, had “victimised” him in the probe.

Rasyidi was charged in another court over an unrelated graft case.

The court said Zulkifly’s defence was a bare denial and unsubstantiated. “He merely sought to divert from the evidence adduced by the prosecution,” Kamal added.

According to the facts of the case, Zulkifly met the two suppliers in 2018, where the duo asked him about the processes involved to apply for work permits.

Zulkifly informed them that they could no longer apply as the deadline had lapsed. He then asked the duo “how much” they were willing to give.

In response, both suppliers raised their index fingers, indicating RM1,000 monthly.

They later took turns to pay Zulkifly until 2020, when all three men were arrested by MACC.