SHAH ALAM: Celebrities, including local artists and icons, are on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's (MACC) radar for their suspected involvement in a personal loan fraud syndicate.
According to Sinar Harian's source, these individuals are believed to be linked with a financial consultancy firm that colluded with local bank officers to deceive bank borrowers, including civil servants, through overlapping loans.
The source explained that the artists are suspected of having a connection following the recent arrest of eight company directors and 18 bank officers in the Ops Sky operation.
"These artists are paid up to hundreds of thousands of ringgit for using their image to convince the public to use the services provided.
"They act as official ambassadors, with some receiving payments reaching up to RM400,000," the source said on Sunday (Feb 2).
MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki stated that the involved celebrities will be summoned to provide statements related to the ongoing investigation.
"The investigation focuses on the involvement of these celebrities, following their acceptance of payments reaching hundreds of thousands of ringgit after being appointed as campaign ambassadors.
"At the moment, they have not been called, but it is expected that several individuals (artists) will be summoned to assist in the investigation," he said on Sunday.
Recently, the MACC dismantled a corruption and money laundering operation involving a financial consultancy company and bank officers at several financial institutions.
This was the result of the arrest of 12 individuals in raids conducted by the MACC's Anti-Money Laundering Division (AML) in cooperation with Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) at 24 locations through Ops Sky, covering residences and offices around the Klang Valley recently.
So far, 27 individuals have been detained, including 18 bank officers, eight financial consultancy company staff, and one civilian, all of whom have been released from remand on MACC bail.
