FORMER BANK OFFICERS CHARGED WITH RECEIVING OVER RM100,000 IN BRIBES

KUANTAN, Oct 27 (Bernama) -- Two former bank officers were charged in the Sessions Court here today with allegedly accepting over RM100,000 in bribes as an inducement to process personal loan financing applications that exceeded authorised credit limits.

Irfan Syafiq Hafizi Mohd Riduan, 30, and Nurul Hidyatul Asyikin Zolkeple, 34, pleaded not guilty to their respective charges after they were read before Judge Sazlina Safie.

Irfan Syafiq Hafizi, a former marketing officer at a bank in Damansara, faces 14 counts of having received RM99,030.22 via online transfers into his bank account from several individual and corporate accounts.

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The accused allegedly accepted the bribes to process a loan application for customers despite knowing that their concurrent applications at other banks resulted in obtaining multiple loans exceeding their authorised credit limit.

He was accused of committing the offences at a bank in Kuantan between June 6, 2023, and Dec 6, 2024.

He was charged under Section 16(a)(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years' imprisonment and a fine of not less than five times the sum or value of the bribe, or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.

Meanwhile, Nurul Hidyatul Asyikin was charged with four counts of corruption, amounting to RM10,802.51.

The former Consumer Financing executive at a bank in Bandar Baru Bangi, Selangor, was accused of corruptly receiving RM10,802.51 from the account of a 29-year-old man and several companies as a bribe to process similar ineligible loan applications.

The offences were allegedly committed at a bank in Kuantan between June 6, 2024, and Sept 9, 2024, under the same section and Act.

MACC deputy public prosecutor Ezuain Farhana Ahmad proposed bail of RM20,000 for Irfan Syafiq Hafizi and RM10,000 for Nurul Hidyatul Asyikin, with additional conditions of surrendering their passports, reporting monthly to the nearest MACC office, and not interfering with prosecution witnesses.

The judge set bail at RM12,000 for Irfan Syafiq Hafizi and RM7,000 for Nurul Hidyatul Asyikin, imposing the additional conditions. Irfan’s case mention was fixed for Dec 9, while Nurul Hidyatul Asyikin's is on Dec 12. They were represented by counsels Chua Yong Yi and M Maran, respectively. 

This case stemmed from Ops Sky, an investigation into bribery and money laundering involving financial consultancy firms, which was publicly reported on Sept 9. 

In a previous statement, MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki revealed that this operation would lead to approximately 20 bank officers being charged under the MACC Act 2009 by late September or early October.

-- BERNAMA