MACC nets another ‘big fish’

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has caught another “big fish”, the managing director of a government-linked company, over a multi-million-ringgit bribery case.

The director, who is a Datuk, was arrested at about 2pm at his office in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

According to a source, the case involves project tenders in connection with a banking system and the publication of a book about a national figure.

“RM15mil was awarded to the publishing company owned by a person of interest for the Datuk, but the book was not published,” said the source.

The MACC froze a total of RM8.1mil in several bank accounts belonging to the managing director and several other individuals.

Its investigations director Datuk Azam Baki confirmed the arrest.

It is the latest in a series of “big fish takedowns” by the MACC following a warning by its new chief commissioner Datuk Dzulkifli Ahmad that he would weed out corruption in the public sector.

Since then, several high-ranking officials in Kuala Lumpur, Kelantan and Malacca, including a Datuk and Datuk Seri, have been detained and funds totalling RM13mil frozen.

In a separate case in Kelantan, the MACC was looking into claims by orang asli that illegal loggers had tried to bribe them to keep silent about their activities in Gua Musang.

The orang asli alleged that they were offered cash, rice, tobacco and other essentials to keep their mouths shut, according to MACC state director Datuk Moh Samsuddin Yusoff.

“They tried to bribe everyone in the village but were refused.

“The village head lodged a report with the MACC,” he told reporters after a seminar on the integrity of deforestation yesterday.