[UPDATED] Govt department director, engineer among 6 remanded over alleged contract bribery

New Straits Times

20-05-2025

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has remanded six individuals, including two senior civil servants with the title 'Datuk' and an engineer from a government department, for allegedly receiving bribes amounting to hundreds of thousands of ringgit in connection with development and maintenance contract awards since 2021.
Magistrate Irza Zulaikha Rohanuddin granted a five-day remand until May 24 for five of the suspects, while the sixth was remanded for three days until May 22 following a request by the MACC at the Putrajaya magistrate's court this morning.
According to a source, the suspects, four men and two women aged between their 20s and 50s, were arrested at around 5.30pm yesterday at the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya, where they were having their statements recorded.
He said the two main suspects, who hold the positions of director and engineer at a government department, are believed to have solicited and received bribes from contractors awarded development and maintenance work under their supervision.
A contractor, a husband and wife, and father of one of the married couple with the title 'Datuk', who were suspected of acting as middlemen to collect bribes from contractors, were also arrested, the source said.
"Initial investigations revealed that the two main suspects had received approximately RM115,000 from the middlemen in the form of cash, home renovation payments, and mobile phones.
"During Op Kepala conducted yesterday by the MACC's Special Operations Division at 10 premises in the Klang Valley and Johor, it seized two Toyota Hilux vehicles, about RM165,000 in cash, and froze 95 bank accounts, both personal and company accounts, involving a total sum of around RM6 million," he said.
MACC special operations division senior director Datuk Mohamad Zamri Zainul Abidin, when contacted, confirmed the arrests and said the case is being investigated under Section 17(a) of the MACC Act 2009.