A restaurant manager was today charged in the Kota Kinabalu Special Corruption Court with bribing the father of a girl he allegedly raped in April so as to have the police report withdrawn.

 

Riduan Masmud, 40, pleaded not guilty to the three charges he faced.

On the first charge, he is accused of having offered RM5,000 to the father of the girl outside the guardhouse of Institut Sinaran at the Jalan Tuaran Bypass near Kota Kinabalu between 9pm and 10pm on April 18.

On the second charge, Riduan is accused of having given RM2,000 to the girl’s father at the same place and time on that date.

On the third charge, he is accused of having given RM3,000 to the same person at the Naga Emas canteen in Jalan Tuaran Lama near Kota Kinabalu between 11pm and midnight on the same day.

Riduan was charged under Section 16(b)(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 which provides for a maximum jail term of 20 years and a fine of up to five times the bribe amount or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.

 

Deputy public prosecutor of the MACC, Mukhriz Mat Arus, proposed bail of RM10,000 but Riduan’s counsel Loretto S Padua sought to have the sum reduced, saying his client had been suspended from his job since the investigation into the alleged rape and had two wives and four children to support.

Judge Caroline Bee Majanil set bail at RM2,000 with one surety and fixed June 21 for mention of the case.

- Bernama