Former RMAF senior officer fined RM150,000 for accepting RM100,000 bribe in house construction deal

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 14 — The Sessions Court here today ordered a former Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) major general, Datuk Zainal Abdul Manaf, 61, to pay a RM150,000 fine after he pleaded guilty to accepting RM100,000 as payment for a house construction two years ago.

Judge Suzana Hussin also ruled that Zainal would serve a six-month prison sentence if he fails to pay the fine and advised him to avoid repeating the offence and to show genuine remorse.

Zainal was charged with receiving RM100,000 without providing any services in return from an individual connected to his official duties while he was serving as Assistant Chief of Staff (Materials) at the Ministry of Defence. The offence was committed at a bank in Wangsa Maju on March 15 2022.

The charge framed under Section 165 of the Penal Code, provides for a maximum prison sentence of two years, a fine, or both, upon conviction.

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) deputy public prosecutor Aznika Mohd Anas urged the court to impose a fitting penalty as a lesson not only to the accused but also to the public.

“The accused was not a regular officer, he held a senior position. As such, the prosecution seeks an appropriate and and proportionate penalty,” she said.

However, the defence counsel, Wafa Shalehah Helmy, argued that her client now relies solely on his pension for monthly expenses and suffers from high blood pressure, while his wife is diabetic.

“We respectfully request the court to impose a fine that is not excessively burdensome, as his age restricts his ability to obtain financial support to pay it,” she said. — Bernama