Judge Harmi Thamri Mohamad fined Th’ng Kean Kai, 33, after he pleaded guilty to an alternative charge under Section 214 of the Penal Code, besides also ordering him to serve a 12-month jail sentence if he failed to pay the fine.

Th’ng was charged with offering bribes to the MACC officer as an inducement not to take action against him for electricity theft.

According to the facts of the case, Th’ng was involved in electricity theft for the purpose of cryptocurrency mining and Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) had cooperated with the MACC to locate and curb the activity.

Between August last year and February this year, Th’ng made several payments as bribes totalling RM589,450 to the MACC officer in Sungai Petani, Kedah.

Meanwhile, in the same court, two contractors were fined a total of RM120,000 for falsifying company bank statements in January and February 2019 to enable them to qualify and bid for a cleaning project tender.

Harmi Thamri fined 52-year-old Zahir Hussain RM80,000 for two counts of the offence while Nasir Ayob, 38, was fined RM40,000.

They were charged under Section 471 of the Penal Code.

They were also ordered to serve six months in prison if they failed to pay their fines.