Two top Sabah agency officers nabbed for corruption
THE STAR
PETALING JAYA: Two senior officers of a state agency in Sabah have been detained for alleged abuse of power by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
Also seized were cash worth RM3mil which were found stuffed inside a safe deposit box in the office of one of the suspects.
Sources said the two officials, aged 51 and 54, were detained at their office in Kota Kinabalu by a team of MACC officers at about 9.15am Tuesday.
It is learnt that both men – a director and deputy director of the state agency – are said to have monopolised and awarded basic amenities projects worth some RM3.3bil under its purview to their family members.
Sources said investigations, which started since 2010, pointed out that the two were said to have awarded most of the projects to their siblings.
"The RM3.3bil worth of projects to build basic infrastructure are just allocations approved by the Federal Government.
"We believe the amount involved could be higher as it did not include state-approved allocations to carry out other basic amenities projects and maintenance work," added another source.
Investigations revealed that both men could have accumulated over RM50mil in ill-gotten wealth since 2010.
A series of follow-up operations would be conducted to gather more evidence, including raids at the offices of several contractors, said to have been awarded the projects.
Both men are expected to be remanded to assist in investigations under Section 17(a) of the MACC Act, the Penal Code and money laundering.
Newly-appointed MACC deputy chief commissioner (operations) Datuk Azam Baki confirmed the arrests but declined to elaborate as investigations were on-going.
PETALING JAYA: Two senior officers of a state agency in Sabah have been detained for alleged abuse of power by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
Also seized were cash worth RM3mil which were found stuffed inside a safe deposit box in the office of one of the suspects.
Sources said the two officials, aged 51 and 54, were detained at their office in Kota Kinabalu by a team of MACC officers at about 9.15am Tuesday.
It is learnt that both men – a director and deputy director of the state agency – are said to have monopolised and awarded basic amenities projects worth some RM3.3bil under its purview to their family members.
Sources said investigations, which started since 2010, pointed out that the two were said to have awarded most of the projects to their siblings.
"The RM3.3bil worth of projects to build basic infrastructure are just allocations approved by the Federal Government.
"We believe the amount involved could be higher as it did not include state-approved allocations to carry out other basic amenities projects and maintenance work," added another source.
Investigations revealed that both men could have accumulated over RM50mil in ill-gotten wealth since 2010.
A series of follow-up operations would be conducted to gather more evidence, including raids at the offices of several contractors, said to have been awarded the projects.
Both men are expected to be remanded to assist in investigations under Section 17(a) of the MACC Act, the Penal Code and money laundering.
Newly-appointed MACC deputy chief commissioner (operations) Datuk Azam Baki confirmed the arrests but declined to elaborate as investigations were on-going.
