Judge Ahmad Kamal Arifin Ismail meted out the sentence to Razak Darom and Faizal Razak after finding them guilty of charges brought under Section 25(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009.

The provision requires any person who is given, promised or offered any bribe that violates the provisions of the Act to report it to the authorities.

Razak failed to report that he received RM4,500 from Siti Aminah Nahar purportedly as payment for preparing food and drinks for an Islamic Studies teachers’ programme.

Faizal was convicted of failing to report to MACC that he had received RM1,500 from Aminah for preparing food and drinks for a management workshop.

Neither event took place.

The offences were committed at Ledang district education department in November and December 2019.

In finding them guilty, the court said the defence by Razak and Faizal was riddled with bare denials and afterthoughts.

“They did not answer the real issues in dispute and merely sought to divert from the evidence adduced by the prosecution,” said Kamal.

He said their defence statements, prepared in advance of the trial, were not a “magic shield” and “could not displace the prima facie case the prosecution had established”.

On the sentence meted out, the High Court held that the committed offences were “neither trivial nor peripheral”.

“As public servants in the teaching profession, they should have realised that what they did was most unbecoming and had far-reaching, damaging consequences,” the judge said.