Bulk of high-profile cases since 2020 involved politicians, says MACC

More than 60% of the 156 investigation papers (IP) involving high-profile and public interest cases opened by the Special Operations Division (BOK) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) between 2020 and June 8 this year involved politicians.

BOK senior director Tan Kang Sai said the investigations resulted in the arrest of 211 individuals, 91 of whom were brought to court for a total of 454 charges.

"During the same period, 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, especially concerning financial transactions involving banks and foreign financial institutions, had its own challenges.

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 said, adding that the 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 money trails brought to court only involves local banks and financial institutions," he said.

Tan said among the high-profile cases investigated by BOK were Op Mitra, Op Hire, and Op Marii which involved the misuse of funds amounting to hundreds of millions of ringgit provided by the government for the development of the Indian community, workers and the country's automotive industry.

Another challenge for BOK, he said, is when cases under investigation are sensationalised by the media and politicians.

"This allows the parties involved to take the opportunity to destroy important documents such as financial transactions, and to flee.

"Today's technological advancements also present their own challenges where financial transactions involving local banks and financial institutions, and even foreign financial institutions, can be carried out using only mobile phones.
 
"In view of the challenges, MACC engages experts in accounting, engineering and law as part of the BOK investigation team, to ensure a comprehensive investigation before submitting the IPs to the Attorney General's Chambers," he said.

He said BOK also used effective investigation management and management team-based investigation to enhance public confidence in MACC’s authority as a relevant and pre-eminent anti-corruption agency.

BOK is a special investigation unit 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 related to large-scale corruption cases on procurement and enforcement.