Nightspots paying bribes to protect vice activities
FMT Reporters | March 11, 2017
Illegal activities proliferating in Selangor due to collusion between operators and the authorities, says report
Free Malaysia Today
PETALING JAYA: Operators of night entertainment outlets in Selangor are believed to be paying bribes and kickbacks to officers from government agencies to enable vice activities to be covertly conducted in their premises.
According to a report in The Star Online today these nightspots which provide “extra services” are flourishing in the state because they pay cash “under the table” to the authorities to turn a blind eye.
Quoting sources, the report said the officers who are involved hail from agencies such as the police, Fire and Rescue Department and local councils.
It said the officers supposedly conduct raids on such premises, such as wellness outlets, massage parlours and gambling centres, but are actually meeting and negotiating with the operators there for payments.
The report added that the operators go as far as bribing local councils and fire department officials to obtain required licences to conduct their businesses legally.
Some of them hire foreign women who do not have permits to be legally employed in Malaysia, it quoted the sources as saying. These women are used to provide sexual services, it added.
“As a result, they are left to flourish, causing social ills and adverse effects to society,” the sources said. “Stern action needs to be taken to keep the situation in check.”
In an operation around the Klang Valley earlier this year, the authorities caught about 50 foreigners working to provide sex in such premises.
The raiding teams seized items like contraceptives, massage oil, lubricant and cash.
The issue of illegal activities proliferating in Selangor grabbed the headlines in December and January when Sungai Besar Umno division chief Jamal Yunos led vigilante raids on some illegal gambling dens in Selangor.
He claimed that there are hundreds of such gambling centres and massage parlours doing business illegitimately in the state.
He also said he was offered more than RM1 million by illegal gambling groups to persuade him against affecting their businesses and to keep enforcement officers away.
