The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has arrested 44 individuals of which includes 32 officers from the Road Transport Department (JPJ), who are suspected to be involved in a syndicate that sought bribes from lorry drivers purported for protection from the law according to a report in the Malay Mail.
32 JPJ Officers Arrested During Operation “Sukat”
According to the report in the Malay Mail, the commission stated that, “some of the JPJ officers detained held senior positions while others were of various ranks, including former traffic police officers. The remaining dozen or so suspects were civilians believed to be proxies for the syndicate.”
The operation codenamed “Sukat” saw arrests made across the country. The MACC statement read, “one of the ways they operated was these officers took no action on the lorry companies that had committed traffic violations in return for bribes that were either credited directly into their personal bank accounts or their proxies every month.”
In the statement the MACC additionally said that, ´they are suspected of receiving between RM150 and RM3,000 a month with the total value of the bribes amounting to RM1.64 million´. Supposedly, the group were believed to have been operating between 2019 and 2020.
In the report in the Malay Mail the suspicions of corruption amongst regulators who conduct inspections on drivers and companies operating the lorries were raised following what was referred to as ´the frequent rate of such incidents involving huge faulty carrier lorries.´
According to the MACC Chief Datuk Seri Azam Baki, “more arrests could be made soon,” in quotes published in the Malay Mail.
SOURCE: The Malay Mail
