KUALA LUMPUR: The Attorney-General's Chambers is currently looking into amending the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 to improve the body's effectiveness in tackling bribery in the country.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Paul Low Seng Kuan said among the suggestions made to improve the Act was the inclusion of a provision to hold companies liable if their employees were found guilty of corruption.
"The Government is ready to study and introduce improvements to existing laws to address weaknesses in the system," he said in a written reply.
Low also revealed that 1,310 people were brought to court for corruption offences between 2009 and May 2013.
"Of this total, 888 people were found guilty of various corruption offences.
"As part of the Government Transformation Programme, the names of the offenders were uploaded into the database on the MACC's website," he said.
Low said as of May 2013, 36 people out of the total 106 accused of corruption were found guilty.
At a press conference in the Parliament lobby, Rafizi Ramli (PKR - Pandan) said Low faced a big challenge to boost MACC's image in the eyes of the public.
Comparing the MACC with Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), Rafizi said 68% of cases were successfully prosecuted by the MACC while ICAC's success rate was 86%.
"These numbers prove that the public still doubts the effectiveness and independence of the MACC in conducting probes.
"This is compounded by the fact that only one in every five MACC reports end up being investigated. A big portion of the cases end up being categorised as 'no further action'," he claimed.
Source : The Star
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