Visa Officer Jailed For Accepting $450 To Extend Foreigners' Stay
By Za'im Zaini

Bandar Seri Begawan - An officer attached to the Visa, Visit & Diplomatic Section at the Department of Immigration and National Registration, Ministry of Home Affairs, 25-year-old Ruby Rosziana Binti Bakar was sentenced in the Magistrate's Court, Bandar Seri Begawan to 15 months imprisonment after she pleaded guilty to three counts of offences under section 6 (a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act (Chapter 131).

According to a press release from the Anti-Corruption Bureau yesterday, the 15 months imprisonment comprised nine months imprisonment for the first offence, three months for the second offence and three months for the third offence which are to run consecutively with effect from today.

The court also imposed a fine of $450 on the defendant where the amount of the fine is equal to the sum of money the defendant received as gratification as provided for under section 17 of the Prevention of Corruption Act (Chapter 131).

The defendant was given a month to pay the fine and if she fails to do so, the public prosecutor may apply for the issuance of warrant to seize and sell the defendant's property in accordance with the fine imposed, the press release said.

The defendant was charged with corruptly accepting for herself a gratification in the sum of $360 for the first indictment, $60 for the second indictment and $30 for the third indictment as inducements for extending the temporary stay in Brunei Darussalam of some foreign nationals.

An investigation conducted by the Anti-Corruption Bureau showed that the defendant had committed the offences on July 25, 2005 and August 8, 2005 in the vicinity of a building in Jalan Batu Bersurat in Mukim Gadong.

 -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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