Four Plead Guilty To Accepting Bribes

A Bentong Municipal Council assistant enforcement officer pleaded guilty at the Sessions Court yesterday to accepting a bribe in Sept last year.
 
Ahmad Razif Abdul Raof, 35, was charged under the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission Act (MACC) 2009 with obtaining RM500 from Gow Mor Meng as inducement to refrain from issuing a summons for illegal renovations at his shop lot, Mercury Pharmacy.

He faces up to 20 years in prison or not less than five times the bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.

Judge Fathiyah Idris set bail at RM3,000 with one surety and fixed Jan 23 2013 for remention.

In the same court, Seh June Yew, 24, a visitor to the Genting Highlands casino, pleaded not guilty to offering a RM50 bribe to auxiliary policeman Jaspal Singh Santokh Singh in October last year.

He allegedly committed the offence to evade being detained for taking a girl below 21 years into the casino.

Seh was also charged under the MACC Act 2009 and faces the same sentence as Ahmad Razif, upon conviction.

Judge Fathiyah set bail at RM1,500 with one surety and fixed Jan 23 2013 for remention.
Meanwhile, another two cases in the same court, also under the MACC Act 2009, saw two policemen pleading guilty to three charges of accepting bribes in 2010 and this year.

Sgt Mohamad Sohaimy Arshad, 50, from the Criminal Investigations department of the Bera police head quarters was charged with receiving two bribes totalling M1,300 bribe on Jan 3 to unconditionally release Saiful Fazli Hanipah, a motorbike theft suspect.

He was allowed bail at RM2,000 with one surety for each charge and remention on Jan 28 2013.

Sgt Major Azizan Saad, 53, of the Temerloh police head quarters was charged with obtaining a RM500 bribe from Chew Kok Roon who was allegedly running an illegal money lending business, on Aug 17 2010 in Mentakab.

Both the suspects face up to 20 years in prison or not less than five times the bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction under the MACC Act 2009.

The judge set bail at RM3,000 with one surety for Azizan and fixed Jan 23 2013 for remention.

All four cases were handled by MACC prosecuting officer Mohd Norazman Jaya. — Bernama

Source : Borneo Post

Malaysia Does Better in Corruption Index

Malaysia has moved up six notches to 54th place in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2012 which is conducted by Trans­parency International (TI).

The announcement made by Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) ranked Malaysia third among Asean countries, behind Singapore (5th) and Brunei (46th).

"Malaysia's position has improved slightly, staying in the mid-range average, indicating that many steps undertaken by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak through the 
Government Transformation Prog­ramme (GTP) to fight corruption have shown results," said TI-M president Datuk Paul Low when announcing the CPI 2012.

This year, a total of 176 countries were assessed using an upgraded methodology.

Moving away from the old scoring system of one to 10, the new CPI scores range from zero to 100 with zero being most corrupt and 100 being corruption-free.

Malaysia scored 49 while Singa­pore scored 87 and Brunei, 55.

TI also stated that while none of the 176 countries in the list obtained a perfect score, two thirds of the countries scored below 50, indicating a serious corruption problem.

Low commended Malaysia for its commitment to fighting corruption as Malaysia was the only country assessed that included the CPI as part of its Key Performance Index (KPI) in fighting corruption.

He also warned that institutional corruption would harm and stunt the emerging Asean economy.

"The Asean economic community as a group must tackle corruption and if Malaysia aims to be a high income economy, we must resolve institutionalised corruption," he said.

The CPI measures the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist in a country through 13 different surveys and country assessments by independent institutions.

These assessments are conducted among experienced observers such as businessmen and country analysts.

Fighting Corruption National Key Results Area (NKRA) director D. Ravindran, who is from the Per­formance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu), stated that the Malaysian 

Anti-Corruption Com­m­ission (MACC) and the Attorney-General's Chambers would conduct anti-corruption training for lawmakers next year.

Asli Centre for Public Policy Studies chairman Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam wished for more government efforts to improve perception on corruption.

Source : AsiaOne

World Champion of Corruption

For so long, Malaysia has been in the domestic and international limelight as far as corruption is concerned.

However, it has never been humiliated and shamed by the international community wholesale like today.

Transparency International, ANI Washington, Hindustan Times and WSJ Live, to name a few, have all bestowed Malaysia the dubious honour of Champion of Corruption.

Much have been written, reported and more than 100 financial scandals exposed since 1983, beginning with the then world’s biggest banking financial loan scandal – the Bumiputera Malaysia Finance (BMF) which came with a murder suspense.

BMF’s internal auditor Jalil Ibrahim was found dead in a banana grove in Hong Kong in July 1983 when he was sent there to probe the scandal.

The federal government had to bailout BMF three times to a tune of RM2.5 billion to keep it afloat.

After 29 years, no one has been punished for the financial scandal and no one has been convicted for the murder.

That was 1983. What about today?

It is still the same as reflected by the murder of Mongolian interpreter Altantuya Shaariibuu who is linked to alleged corrupt financial practices over Malaysia’s Defence Ministry’s purchase of two French-made second hand Scorpene submarines at an inflated price of RM6.7 billion.

What is confirmed is that Altantuya was murdered by two police security officers who served Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his wife, Rosmah Mansor.

Although the two policemen have been convicted for the murder and their case is pending appeal, what we amazingly still don’t know are these:

• What’s the motive for the murder. The presiding judge had the audacity to rule that the motive for the murder is irrelevant. Can any court in the world beat that?;

• Why did the murderers, after shooting Altantuya point blank on the head, need to use exclusive military grade C4 explosives to blow up her body. The plausible explanation for this is to destroy all DNA evidence as she was reported to be pregnant when she was killed. This begs the question: Whose child was Altantuya carrying?; and

• Why is the Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) government so fearful of the ongoing French court’s probe on alleged corrupt financial practices over the Scorpene purchases, to the ridiculous extent of barring French lawyers from entering the country to brief parliamentarians and Malaysians on the development of the case.

Rising federal debts

Malaysia is a country blessed with vast and rich natural resources, including oil and gas. But, after 55 years of BN-Umno rule, the country’s federal debt is at more than RM620 billion (including RM118 billion in off-budget liabilities or sovereign guarantees for private corporations like the Port Klang Free Zone and government-linked company loans ending 2011) against a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of RM881 billion or 70.4% of GDP.

This means the BN government is operating way above the legislated federal debt ceiling of 55% of GDP.

Although I have mentioned this many times over, there is surely a need to keep on reminding all Malaysians so that, when they go to the next general election, they can make an informed decision on what they must do to save Malaysia from an economic disaster of a bankrupt nation.

Congratulations Najib. The whole world now knows you are leading the most corrupt nation on earth.

Source : FreeMalaysiaToday

Malaysia Is World Champion In Corruption

TI-M president: Malaysians Have No Conviction To Fight Corruption

Malaysians rather pay their way out of trouble despite knowing corruption is wrong.
Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) president Datuk Paul Low said Malaysians were aware of corruption but had no conviction to fight it.

“I believe as much as they are aware (of corruption), when faced with a situation, they will probably pay their way out of trouble because to a certain extent, corruption has become a way of life,” he said after launching a walk against corruption at Taman Tasik Perdana yesterday.

In citing a 2010 Global Corruption Barometer survey conducted by TI-M, Low said that it found one in 10 Malaysians had paid a bribe.

However, he believed the actual number could be higher at two or three to 10.

He said another survey conducted with businessmen found one out of two have lost contracts or sales due to non-payment of bribes.

“We are afraid if nothing is done to tackle corruption, it can be endemic and institutionalised,” he said.

He said Malaysians should change their attitude by being firm and say no when someone solicited bribes.

He said all stakeholders had to fight against corruption and uphold integrity, with society playing the role of a watchdog.

“We don't pay, we don't bribe. If someone ask for a bribe or extort from us, we have to inform the MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission),” he said.

He paid tribute to the Government's seriousness in tackling graft, saying that Malaysia was likely the only country in the world to use the transparency index as part of its Key Performance Index (KPI).

He said the Government had also passed the Whistleblowing Protection Act, uploaded names of those charged with corruption on MACC's website and set up a whistleblowing hotline.

“Additionally, 14 courts to handle corruption cases are being established as well as getting companies to sign the Corporate Integrity Pledge to uphold anti-corruption principles.
“It shows we are prepared to tackle corruption head-on,” he said.

Source : The Star

RTD officers claim trial to graft charge

BUTTERWORTH (Dec 10, 2012): Two Road Transport Department (RTD) officials were charged at the Sessions Court here today for accepting a RM300 bribe. 

Assistant enforcement officer V. Chandrasegeran, 42, was alleged to have accepted the money from lorry driver P. Murugan as inducement not to take action against the latter for worn-out tyres. 

 He was charged with committing the offence on Sept 14 at Lorong Perusahaan 10, Prai Industrial Estate, Prai, around 8pm. 

The charge is under Section 17(a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 (Act 694) which is read together with Section 24 of the same Act and carries a maximum 20-year prison sentence and fine not less than five times the bribe amount or RM10,000, whichever is higher. 

The accused claimed trial and Sessions Court judge Meor Sulaiman Ahmad Tarmizi set RM6,000 bail with one surety after defence counsel A. Chandrasegaran told the court his client has aged parents to take care of. 

At another court, assistant enforcement officer Farid Abdullah, 27, was charged for abetting in the same case. 

Sessions court judge Nabisha Ibrahim set bail at RM6, 000 after the accused claimed trial to the charge. 

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Mohd Firdaus Sek-man prosecuted in both cases and had applied that the cases be heard in Meor Sulaiman's court with Jan 21 fixed for mention.

Source : The Sun Daily

Survey: One in 10 Has Paid A Bribe

Most Malaysians would rather pay their way out of trouble than join the fight against corruption.

Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) president Datuk Paul Low said yesterday despite high awareness, many people still lacked the conviction to take a stand against corrupt practices.

"When forced by a situation (which requires them to give bribes), many people still choose to pay. It's almost become a way of life," he said after launching the TI-M Walk Against Corruption at the Lake Gardens here.

According to Low, a 2010 survey conducted by TI-M had found that at least one in 10 Malaysians had paid a bribe, while half of all businesses had lost contracts or clients as a result of graft.

He called on the public to play a greater role in combating graft, stressing that the struggle against corruption could not be fought by organisations such as TI-M or the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission alone.

"It starts with a small act. Just don't pay. And if you really want to take it further, report those responsible to the authorities."

Low said studies had proven that countries that did not tolerate corruption often enjoyed higher incomes and higher standards of living.

"In some other countries, however, nearly a third of a person's income goes to paying bribes. When a society reaches that state, it's a sure sign of a country's decline -- this is why we cannot allow corruption to continue."

More than 200 people joined in the walk, organised in conjunction with the United Nations International Anti-Corruption Day.

Source : New Straits Times

Malaysian Firms Lose Deals Due To Bribery

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 5 – Malaysia tops the list in a Transparency International (TI) survey of 30 countries where companies felt they had lost deals because they did not pay bribes.

The Bribery Payers Survey was carried out locally by pollsters Gallup among 101 companies that deal with the private and public sector.

“Fifty per cent say ‘yes’, which is very high,” Datuk Paul Low, the president of TI’s Malaysian chapter, said at a press conference today.

“I think this should be a cause of concern for us,” he said, adding that it suggests corruption is deeply entrenched in the country’s system and institutions.

The question asked was: “During the last 12 months, do you think that your company has failed to win a contract or gain new business because a competitor has paid a bribe?”

Malaysia has the highest score at 50 per cent, followed by Mexico and Indonesia at 48 and 47 per cent respectively.

Japan had the lowest number of companies that believed they had lost business due to bribery at two per cent, while Singapore and South Korea scored nine and 11 per cent respectively.

In the same survey, Malaysia received a rating of 4.1 when the respondents were asked for their opinion on how common it is for public officials to demand or accept bribes.

Malaysia also scored a rating of 4.3 when those polled were asked: “How common is the misuse of public funds by high-ranking public officials and politicians?”

For these two questions, the rating is on a scale of one to five, with one indicating ‘never’ and five indicating ‘very common’.

When asked to rate the Putrajaya’s effectiveness in the fight against corruption in the private sector, 75 per cent felt the government was ineffective, while six per cent said it was effective.

According to Low, TI had chose the 30 countries because of the high level of international trade and investment in their countries.

Source : The Malaysian Insider

Malaysia's Corruption Barometer Up From 48 to 49 Percent

Based on Transparency International (TI) surveys, Malaysia's Corruption Barometer (CB) improved from 48 percent last year to 49 percent this year, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz.

Nazri, who is also minister in charge of the National Key Result Area (NKRA) on Corruption said TI's Corruption Perception Index (CPI) on Malaysia, however, dropped from 4.4 last year to 4.3 this year.

"This mixed result shows that more work on corruption needs to be done," he said in a statement issued by the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu), here, today.

He said the CB independently surveyed the Malaysian public's views or experiences of corruption and the results were encouraging, with 49 per cent of the people perceiving the government's fight against corruption as being effective.

He said this was an improvement over last year's score of 48 per cent.

"This proves that the building blocks that have been put in place in 2009 and 2010 are beginning to address the issue of petty corruption, which is what affects the public in their daily lives.

"Some of the initiatives were the Name and Shame Database, to act as a deterrent to corruption offenders, the Whistleblower Protection Act, and the establishment of compliance units within the five key enforcement agencies."

As for the CPI on Malaysia which decreased from 4.4 to 4.3 this year, Nazri said this put Malaysia in 60th position compared to 56th in the previous year.

"It used data from 12 surveys with the Political Risk Services Country Guide, the World Justice Project Rule of Law Index and Transparency International's Bribe Payer Index (TI-BPI) being included as new sources in 2011," he said.

Nazri said TI's BPI was conducted in 28 countries only and this was the first time it had been introduced into the CPI.

The BPI is a new survey conducted to measure the propensity of Malaysians paying bribes to other parties outside Malaysia.

"If this was not taken into account, Malaysia's score would jump to 4.5 and the country's ranking would remain at 56," Nazri said.

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Datuk Seri Abu Kassim Mohamed in the same statement said efforts had already been initiated to combat grand corruption, with the MACC putting in place a transformation programme which, among other things, aimed to strengthen its forensic investigative capability.

"MACC has in fact begun a transformation programme that is beginning to be implemented in phases throughout the institution.

"One of the aims is to improve forensics in order to tackle the complex systemic cases.

"The MACC has to work in tandem with all other enforcement agencies as well as prosecuting bodies in order to tackle the issue of grand corruption from an enforcement angle," he said. -- BERNAMA

Source : New Straits Times