This is a case of "hate the game, don't hate the player".

I believe that a famous economist proposed that paying a bribe should be legal but receiving one should be a crime, and that the penalty should include refunding twice the bribe to the payer.

Rationale is to increase risk for receivers while providing an incentive to payers to report bribes to police. If both paying and receiving a bribe are crimes then obviously both sides want to keep shtum.