Other cops may have been in on protection racket, says MACC chief

PUTRAJAYA: Graft investigators are not ruling out the possibility that the police officer arrested for taking bribes to protect certain illegal activities in Kuala Lumpur was not acting alone, says Tan Sri Azam Baki.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner said he believes other senior officers were involved.

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“We are looking into that now,” he told a press conference here yesterday.

Azam said investigators are also in the midst of determining how much in bribes the officer received and how the money was spent.

“Although we have seized RM1.2mil, we want to find out the actual amount he received.

“We are also tracing those who are said to have paid him as well as others who received the money,” he added.

On March 24, a senior officer from the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters was detained for allegedly taking bribes.

The officer had allegedly accepted bribes to protect illicit activities including gambling, prostitution and gangsterism in Kuala Lumpur.

Investigators believe that the suspect, who is in his 40s, had been on the take for the past three years. The MACC also seized RM1.2mil in cash from several properties allegedly linked to the police officer.

The officer and a rank-and-file policeman were remanded last week.