A 63-year-old man pleaded not guilty in the Sessions Court here today to offering and giving a bribe to an Immigration Department officer, last year.

On the first charge, Lee Kee Heong allegedly offered RM2,000 to Perak Immigration assistant superintendent Abdul Majid Mohamed as an inducement to release his friend's Pakistani worker Qaiser Iftikhar from detention for overstaying in Malaysia.

He is accused of committing the offence in Bandar Baru Seri Klebang here, at 6.07 pm on Aug 17, 2016.

On the second charge, Lee allegedly gave RM1,000 to the Immigration officer for the same purpose at McDonald's in Bandar Meru Raya here, at about 6.30 pm on Aug 18, 2016.

The charges framed under Section 17(b) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, punishable under Section 24(1) of the same Act, provides for imprisonment of up to 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the value of the bribe, or RM10,000, whichever is higher.

Judge S.Indra Nehru set RM24,000 as bail for both charges with one surety, and fixed Oct 23 for mention of the case.

Deputy public prosecutor R Kumuthambal represented the MACC while the accused was represented by counsel Chiang Mei Wan.

-- BERNAMA