KUALA LUMPUR: A former police sergeant with the city Sexual, Women and Child Investigation division was fined RM8,000 by the Sessions Court today after she was found guilty of accepting RM6,000 to close a molest case in 2022.
Judge Suzana Hussin said she hoped that accused Nur Mastisha Maidinsha, 39, who was assistant to an investigating officer, would repent after pleading guilty to two alternative charges under Section 165 of the Penal Code.
"Your actions will have consequences on people around you, including your young children, not just yourself," she said to the accused who stood in the dock.
The judge ordered the mother of two to serve 40 days in jail if she fails to pay the fine.
On both charges, Nur Mastisha was charged with accepting RM3,000 on two occasions without favour in return from a man whom she knows has relations to her official duties.
She committed the offences at 8pm and 8.05pm on Oct 1 and 12, 2022 at the Kuala Lumpur police contingent headquarters and a petrol station in Cheras respectively.
It provides jail up to two years, a fine or both.
In mitigation, Nur Mastisha, who was unrepresented, pleaded that throughout her 19 years service with the force, she had never faced disciplinary or criminal action.
"This is my first offence and I take it as a test for me.
"I ask for a lower fine as I have to support my children and I have RM4,500 monthly debts to settle.
"It would not be easy for me to get a new job," she said.
The facts of the case read that Nur Mastisha had offered to solve a sexual offence case without initiating an investigation and solicited the sum from a man whose son was a suspect.
She had informed the man that his son would be charged in court and had told him to prepare the sum and the dates of the handover.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission then launched an operation to trap Nur Mastisha.
Deputy public prosecutor Nurul Atiqah Mohamad Alias urged the court to impose a RM10,000 fine on the accused as a lesson.
"Corruption has tainted the force's name and marred its reputation, causing a trust deficit among the people towards the police, a trusted body to safeguard the country.
"It was proven that she had solicited the money for herself to not take action against a sexual offence.
"She was brave enough to plead guilty but that does not mean she is absolved from any sentence as this is a public interest case," she added.