O
Okuni
Guest
Friday November 26, 2010
More bribe givers arrested
By SARBAN SINGH
[email protected]
SEREMBAN: The number of people detained by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) this year for offering bribes has more than tripled compared to last year. MACC deputy commissioner (prevention) Datuk Sutinah Sutan said that until yesterday, her officers had detained 342 people for offences involving bribes amounting to RM2mil.
“Of those detained, 81 have been charged in court. Most were caught for trying to bribe government enforcement officers,” she said after a meeting with staff members of the Seremban and Nilai municipal councils here yesterday. “This was the first time we had more people being arrested for allegedly offering bribes as against those receiving. We hope this positive trend will continue,” she said.
Last year, MACC officers arrested 108 people for committing similar offences. The previous year, 93 were detained. She said the high number of bribe-givers detained this year showed that a campaign launched by the MACC in April to nab such offenders had been successful.
“We now have more government servants coming forward to report attempts to bribe them. This is a positive development,” Sukinah said, adding the MACC had also detained 232 government employees this year for allegedly being involved in graft.
“The public should know that they are taking a big risk by offering bribes. We have to send the message across,” she said. In Negri Sembilan, Sutinah said 66 people had been arrested this year for allegedly offering bribes. Seventeen government employees were also detained for accepting bribes.
