Four illegal loggers jailed, fined for bribery

KUCHING: Four illegal loggers were each sentenced to one-day jail and fined a total of RM80,000 by the Limbang special corruption court today for trying to bribe enforcement officers to protect their activities.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission said in a statement that Pau Yu Tek, 54, Ting Chuong Mew, 72, Tang Chung Yieng, 28, and Ngu Kok Tung, 37, pleaded guilty before judge Nixon Kennedy Kumbong.
Pau, a part-time logging contractor who operated illegally in Limbang, was fined RM50,000 for offering a bribe of RM10,000 to ASP Pabilah Abdullah, who was a General Operations Force intelligence officer.
He offered the bribe to avoid action being taken against his company for undertaking logging activities without a permit from the Sarawak Forest Department. The offence took place in front of a bank premise in Lawas town, Limbang last Sept 10 at 3.30pm.
Ting was fined RM10,000 for offering a bribe of RM1,000 to Pabilah last Sept 9 at 6.20pm in Lawas town, as an inducement not to take action against him for harvesting timber without a permit from the department.
Tang was fined RM10,000 for offering a bribe of RM1,000 to MACC officer, ASP Sendry Ugi last Sept 1 at 3.15pm in Lawas town as an inducement not to take action against him for hiring foreign workers without valid work permits.
Ngu was fined RM10,000 for offering an inducement of RM300 to Sendry last Sept 1 at 10.40am in Lawas town so as not to take action against him for transporting logs using barges without valid port documents.
They were charged under the MACC Act 2009 which carries a jail term not exceeding 20 years and fines not more than five times the value of the bribe or RM10,000 whichever is higher. All four accused paid their fines.
MACC prosecuting officer Kathrine Nais appeared for the prosecution. – Bernama