PUTRAJAYA: More than 60% of the 156 investigation papers involving high-profile and public interest cases opened by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Special Operations Division between 2020 and June 8 this year involved politicians.
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The Division’s senior director Datuk Tan Kang Sai said the investigation resulted in the arrest of 211 individuals, with 91 of them brought to court and involved 454 charges.
“During the same period, the MACC also confiscated RM51,132,539 in cash, forfeited property and cash amounting to RM10,465,873.39 and issued compound amounting to RM128,968,750,” he told Bernama recently.
He said investigating high-profile and public interest cases has its own challenges, especially when it involves financial transactions between banks and foreign financial institutions.
Tan added that investigating the money trail becomes difficult when the money involved is transferred to accounts abroad because each country has different laws to protect its banking system.
He then said that banks and financial institutions have the right not to cooperate and to refuse to provide information to facilitate the investigation.
“As such, we see that most of the evidence on the money trail brought to the court only involves local banks and financial institutions,” he said.
Tan said among the high-profile cases which had been investigated by the Division were Op Mitra, Op Hire and Op Marii which involved the misuse of funds provided by the government for the development of the Indian community, workers and the country’s automotive industry.
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He said another challenge faced by the Division is when cases get sensationalised.
“This allows parties involved to take the opportunity to destroy important documents such as financial transactions, and to flee. Today’s technological advancement also presents its own challenges where financial transactions involving local banks and financial institutions and even foreign financial institutions can be carried out using only mobile phones,” said Tan.
“In view of the challenges, MACC engages experts in accounting, engineering and law as part of the Division’s investigation team to ensure a comprehensive investigation before submitting the investigation papers to the Attorney General’s Chambers,” he added.
He said that the Division also uses Effective Investigation Management (EIM) and Management Team-based Investigation (MTI) to enhance public confidence in MACC’s authority as a relevant and preeminent anti-corruption agency.
The Division is a special investigation unit of the MACC established to investigate high-profile and public interest cases as well as those affecting the country’s security.
It was established in 2010 and is part of MACC’s transformation initiative to achieve the objectives of the National Key Result Area (NKRA) related to large-scale corruption cases on procurement and enforcement. – Bernama