Ex-senior Immigration Man’s Bribery Conviction Quashed

A former senior Immigration officer was a relieved man after the High Court quashed his 2008 conviction on 14 bribery charges involving RM121,500.

High Court judge Justice Ghazali Cha dismissed the charges and sentence against former Immigration Department deputy director-general I (Control Division) Yusof Abu Bakar, 56, saying the prosecution had failed to prove a prima facie case as the evidence was largely circumstantial.

He said a key witness, Khoo Nee Bon, 41, was a witness with an interest as he was involved in the case and could have been charged if he did not testify.

“Thus his testimony should be taken with caution,” he said.

He said the prosecution had also failed to call several important parties as witnesses, including an alleged runner for Yusof called Atuk, or any of the over 200 Chinese nationals said to have offered bribes to him.

Dressed smartly in a black suit, Yusof expressed relief after the court’s verdict was announced.

In 2008, Sessions Court judge Abu Bakar Katar sentenced Yusof to six years in prison and a cumulative fine of RM619,500 for the charges under section 11(a) of the Anti-Corruption Act 1997.

However, his counsel Mohammed Azmi Mohd Said successfully applied for a stay of execution.

Yusof was alleged to have accepted RM121,500 from a senior sales manager and a third party as an inducement to approve the extension of social visit passes for Chinese nationals.

The offences were allegedly committed at various locations here, Petaling Jaya and his office in Precinct 2, Putrajaya, between March 21 and July 7, 2008.

Source : The Star