Sessions court judge Ahmad Zamzani Zain handed down the sentence on Hasbullah Ali Alias, who is an assistant superintendent of police, after finding him guilty of the offence.

“After listening to the testimony of all the prosecution and defence witnesses, the court found that the accused failed to raise reasonable doubt or provide an explanation to rebut the presumption on the balance of probabilities,” he said.

The court, however, allowed a stay of execution of the sentence pending Hasbullah’s appeal.

The 48-year-old, who is with the Pahang narcotics crime investigation department, was charged with receiving the money from a man at a restaurant in Jalan Beserah in Kuantan at 12.37pm on May 7, 2018.

The money was allegedly to be given to a deputy public prosecutor in connection with a drug case.

The charge was framed under Section 17(a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, which provides a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and a fine of five times the value of the bribe, or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.

The prosecution was handled by MACC deputy public prosecutor Asraf Tahir, while the accused was represented by lawyer Syed Azimal Amir Syed Abu Bakar.