SHAH ALAM – A 41-year-old businessman broke down in tears after being fined RM20,000 in default 20 months jail by the High Court here today, for five counts of bribing a Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) engineer to refrain from cutting off the electricity supply at his premises between 2019 and 2021.
Judge Datuk Anita Harun fined Ng Yin Wui, RM4,000 or four months prison in default for each count after he pleaded guilty to all the charges.
According to the charges, Ng was accused of offering RM8,000 as bribes to a 31-year-old TNB engineer at two restaurants in Sunway Mentari, Petaling Jaya, between November 1, 2019, and November 15, 2021.
The bribes were an inducement for the engineer to not cut off the power supply at Ng’s premises for the theft of electricity and modifying the electricity metre, which are offences under Section 37(14) of the Electricity Supply Act 1990.
The accused, the owner of a plastic recycling centre, was charged under Section 214 of the Penal Code which is punishable by up to six months imprisonment or fine, or both, upon conviction.
The accused, who was unrepresented, started crying as he pleaded for a lesser fine on the basis that he was the sole breadwinner of his family and that it was his first offence.
However, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) prosecuting officer V. Yunaisvari asked for the court to mete out a deterrent sentence, taking into account the public interest and amount involved, to send a clear message that the law will not compromise on such offences. – October 26, 2023