UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO ACCEPTING RM5,071 BRIBE

SHAH ALAM, March 24 (Bernama) -- A public university professor pleaded not guilty in the Sessions Court, here, today, to two counts of accepting bribes, amounting to RM5,071, allegedly committed two years ago.

Ahmad Rifqi Md Zain, 48, is accused of abusing his position, as the principal of a university residential college, to receive bribes of RM2,000 and RM3,071, on May 24 and June 2, 2023.

The accused is charged with accepting bribes as an inducement to assist Light Green Enterprise in securing a contract to supply and deliver collared T-shirts, lanyards, mufflers and ziplock bags for residential college students, during the 2023-2024 session.

The charges were framed under Section 17(a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009.

MACC prosecuting officer Mohd Aliff Shahruzaman and deputy public prosecutor Muaz Ahmad Khairuddin appeared for the prosecution, while the accused was represented by lawyers Mohd Faizi Che Abu and Yusfarizal Yussoff.

Earlier, Mohd Aliff offered bail at RM15,000 in one surety and three additional conditions - the accused to surrender his international passport to the court, report to the nearest MACC office monthly, and refrain from disturbing prosecution witnesses.

However, Mohd Faizi requested the court to set bail at RM5,000 and to forgo the condition requiring his client to surrender his passport, citing the accused’s frequent international travel for academic purposes.

“The accused poses no flight risk, as he is a long-serving professor at a local university. His presence in court today was not due to an arrest but a voluntary response to a notice received on Friday. This demonstrates that he has no intention of fleeing,” the lawyer argued.

Muaz Ahmad countered that the prosecution’s application did not violate the accused’s right to liberty, as he could still apply to retrieve his passport from the court when necessary.

Judge Datuk Mohd Nasir Nordin granted bail at RM10,000 in one surety, imposing the additional conditions requested by the prosecution. The court set May 13 for mention.

-- BERNAMA