JPJ man’s corruption convictions over RM3,600 payments upheld

The Melaka High Court has upheld the conviction of former JPJ enforcement officer Rafi Abd Rahman on six corruption charges involving payments of RM3,600 each. Judicial Commissioner K Raja Segaran dismissed Rafi's appeal, ruling that the prosecution had proven he gave the bribes to colleague Fauzan Saleh to prevent enforcement action against overloaded lorries.

Rafi, who was convicted last year and served a 10-month jail term, was fined RM10,000 per charge, totaling RM60,000. Rafi denied the allegations, arguing that Fauzan and another witness were accomplices whose testimony required corroboration. However, Raja Segaran rejected this argument, stating that Section 52 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 changed the legal position regarding accomplices' evidence.

The court found that the payments were made in July-December 2018 as rewards for not taking action against the overloaded lorries. Rafi's claim that the statutory presumption under Section 50(1) was applied too early was also dismissed, as the sessions court had already found the payments were corrupt. The judge emphasized that corruption by an enforcement officer warranted a deterrent sentence, describing the 10-month concurrent jail term as moderate compared to the maximum statutory penalty of 20 years.