KOTA KINABALU: A Sabah Finance Ministry technical and engineering advisor has been arrested under Ops Water - the ongoing investigations into power abuse and corruption in the Sabah Water Department.

The suspect, who retired as a deputy director of the department last year and was appointed an adviser to the state ministry, was picked from his office Thursday, graft investigators said.

The sources said they also seized a Mercedes Benz and a Toyota Land Cruiser from the suspect, who is believed to be another key figure in the massive siphoning of federal allocations for water projects worth RM3.3bil since 2010.

He is the fifth person arrested by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission investigators, who have seized more than RM190mil - RM57mil of it in cash - as well as gold and property and frozen bank accounts of the director and deputy director of the department following their Oct 4 arrest.

The sources said the adviser is believed to have also received kickbacks, although no immediate seizures of cash has been made.

MACC deputy commissioner for operations Datuk Azam Baki confirmed the latest arrest but declined further comment.

The investigators have obtained a six-day remand to hold him for further questioning in one of the biggest investigations involving abuse of power, bribery, nepotism and money laundering in the country.

The MACC has also arrested a businessman - who is the elder brother of the deputy director - and his company accountant under Ops Water.