KUALA LUMPUR: A civil servant has been arrested on suspicion of accepting bribes ranging from RM10,000 to RM15,000 for each birth certificate issued.
According to a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) source, the civil servant is believed to have assisted in processing late birth registration applications, particularly in cases where births were registered more than 60 days after delivery.
The operation, codenamed Ops Outlander, targeted a syndicate involved in late birth registrations.
So far, the MACC has frozen 11 bank accounts with funds totalling RM100,000 and seized 30 documents in its ongoing investigation.
Sources also revealed that a doctor responsible for managing birth registration documents was also arrested.
On March 11, MACC arrested 16 suspects, including a medical practitioner with a "Datuk Seri" title in a corruption investigation into the fraudulent registration of non-citizen births as Malaysian citizens, using false supporting documents.
MACC deputy chief commissioner (operations) Datuk Seri Ahmad Khusairi Yahaya said that the suspects, aged from 20 to 70, were arrested during raids at several premises, including clinics and law firms in the Klang Valley and Johor.
The raids followed approximately a year of intelligence gathering, through collaboration and information-sharing between the MACC and the National Registration Department (NRD). – Bernama
