KUALA LUMPUR: A property developer was slapped with a RM1.5 million fine by the High Court after pleading guilty to a charge of abetting a former minister into receiving a sum of RM1 million to approve a land deal under Kuala Lumpur City Hall.
Datuk Tan Eng Boon (pix), 70, pleaded guilty to abetment yesterday as an alternative to his initial charge under Section 165 of the Penal Code, which carries a two-year jail term or a fine or both upon conviction, of bribing former Federal Territories minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor.
After considering the plea bargain, Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali fined Tan RM1.5 million or a year’s jail as an appropriate sentence. However, he said Tan had to pay the fine by today .
“I took into account public interest and the interest of the accused in imposing the sentence,” Nazlan said.
During the proceeding yesterday, deputy public prosecutor Julia Ibrahim and Tan’s lawyer, Faisal Moideen, conducted a plea bargain before Nazlan.
Nazlan, in imposing the sentence, said he took into account that Tan pleaded guilty at the earliest opportune time. He also considered that Tan abetted with another person in committing the crime, in which both were jointly charged.
“This has saved a lot of judicial time in a corruption trial,” he said, also taking into account that Tan was a first-time offender.
“However, corruption is a serious crime as it undermines the social and economic development of a country. It also destroys the social fabric of society,” he said.
Julia later told reporters that Tan was prepared to plead guilty to the amended charge provided he would only be fined.
On Nov 15 last year, Tan, 70, director of a property development company, pleaded not guilty to bribing Tengku Adnan by depositing a RM1-million Public Bank cheque belonging to Pekan Nenas Industries Sdn Bhd into Tengku Adnan’s CIMB Bank account. Tan, represented by lawyer Faisal Moideen, pleaded guilty to the alternative charge during case management yesterday.
