Duo accused of accepting RM1mil to shut case linked to Israeli gunman
KUALA LUMPUR: The case of the Israeli who was caught with six guns in Ampang here has taken a new turn, with two senior policemen charged with accepting a bribe of RM1mil to close investigations into a related case.
The Israeli gunman, Shalom Avitan, was said to have bought the guns in Malaysia using cryptocurrency.
He was linked to a criminal organisation involved in ongoing violent conflicts.
Asst Comm Chin Kiam Kong, 54, the Senior Assistant Director of Forensic Accounting Investigations, Commercial Crime Investigation Department in Bukit Aman, and Deputy Supt Suhairon Abdullah, 42, the Cryptocurrency Crime Investigation Unit head, pleaded not guilty to two charges before judge Azura Alwi.
Chin and Suhairon were jointly charged with agreeing to accept and accepting the RM1mil bribe from businessman Khoo Zixian, 28, as an inducement to help close a criminal investigation against him in connection with an offence under Section 120 of the Penal Code (Act 574).
Act 574 deals with anyone helping or concealing information about the commission of a major crime.
The offence was allegedly committed in the meeting room of the Forensic Accounting/Cryptocurrency Investigation Division, Commercial Crime Investigation Department, Menara KPJ, in Jalan Tun Razak here, between noon and 1pm and in the parking area of the building between 4.29pm and 4.40pm on April 8.
The charge framed under Section 16(a) (B) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 (Act 694), read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code (Act 574), provides imprisonment for up to 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the amount of the bribe, or RM10,000, whichever is higher upon conviction.
In the same court, Chin pleaded not guilty to two other charges of agreeing to accept a bribe and accepting a bribe of RM250,000 to help close a criminal investigation against Khoo for an offence under Section 420 of the Penal Code (Act 574).
He is alleged to have committed the offence at the office of the Senior Assistant Director of Forensic Accounting Investigations, Menara KPJ here, at 12.30pm on April 18 and at a parking lot at the building between 10.30am and 1pm on April 19, 11 days after the first offence.
Deputy public prosecutor Syed Faisal Syed Amir requested bail at RM100,000 each and an additional condition for them to surrender their passports to the court.
Lawyer Jacky Loi, representing Chin, requested bail of RM20,000, saying his client had served the police force for 29 years and has four children, one of whom is still studying abroad.
Lawyer Ridha Abdah Subri, representing Suhairon, who has been in the force for 20 years and is supporting a wife and four children, requested a bail of RM15,000.
Azura then set bail at RM40,000 each in one or two sureties and ordered the two accused to surrender their passports to the court.
She set July 30 for mention for the submission of documents. — Bernama
