Tamisan (left) leaves the courtroom after sentencing. Seen behind him are Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission officers.
KUCHING (July 31): A Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) officer was fined RM10,000 in default five months’ jail by the Session’s Court here yesterday for accepting bribes amounting to RM8,000 last year.
Tamisan Tumen, 55, plead guilty in front of Judge Steve Ritikos to the charge framed under Section 165 of the Penal Code.
He paid the fine.
According to the case facts, the accused received the bribes from an individual with a Datuk Seri title, while serving as the acting head of an MMEA vessel at Tanjung Sedili in Johor.
It was stated that the bribes were so that action would not be taken against a vessel belonging to the Datuk Seri which was found to be without complete documentations.
It was also mentioned that the accused received the bribes in stages from April to December 2020 via online transactions to his bank account. The bank was later revealed to be at Jalan Satok here.
In mitigation, the accused asked the court for a lenient sentence as he is the breadwinner for his wife and five children.
He also told the court that his mother had passed away at 8.30am yesterday and that he had spent a lot of money for the court proceedings.
However, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission deputy public prosecutor Nur Nisla Abdul Latif said the accused should not be given leniency as he had failed in his service to safeguard the nation’s waters.
She also urged the court for a heavier sentence against the accused to reflect the seriousness of the offence, committed by a government agency personnel.