Court upholds 30-month jail sentence on ex-inspector for bribery

PETALING JAYA: The Court of Appeal today upheld the 30-month prison sentence and RM225,000 fine imposed on a former police officer who was convicted of soliciting and receiving bribes nine years ago.

The three-judge panel, comprising Justices Azizah Nawawi, Azman Abdullah and Azmi Ariffin, unanimously dismissed Hafizzuddin Hassan’s appeal to overturn the High Court’s decision that affirmed his conviction by the sessions court.

“After reviewing the evidence and findings from the lower courts, we believe the conviction is sound,” Bernama quoted Azizah as saying when delivering the court’s decision.

Hafizzuddin, 42, a former police inspector, had been granted bail of RM20,000 with one surety pending his appeal but is now required to begin serving his prison sentence immediately.

On June 1, 2020, the sessions court found Hafizzuddin guilty of accepting RM15,000 in bribes from Abdul Ghani Ismail, 54, in exchange for intervention from Hafizzuddin’s senior officer to resolve a Prevention of Crime Act case involving one Ridduan Ahmad, 50.

The offence was committed at the Barat Daya police headquarters in Balik Pulau, Penang, at about 3pm, on April 8, 2015.

The sessions court had sentenced Hafizzuddin to 30 months in prison and imposed a fine of RM75,000, in default six months’ imprisonment.

He was also convicted of attempting to solicit a RM30,000 bribe from Ghani on May 18, 2015, at Lebuh Pekaka in Taman Pekaka, Penang, for which he received another 30-month prison sentence and a RM150,000 fine.

The two sentences are to run concurrently.

Hafizzuddin appealed his conviction to the Court of Appeal after the High Court dismissed his appeal on March 24, 2023.

He was represented by lawyer CP Ang, while Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission deputy public prosecutors Farah Ezlin Yusop Khan, Ifa Sirrhu Samsudin, Noor Azura Zulkiflee and Afiqa Liyana Rozman appeared for the prosecution.

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