A SENIOR Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission officer was arrested in Penang yesterday for allegedly trying to extort money from a policeman.

The officer, an assistant enforcer in Putrajaya MACC’s intelligence unit (Northern Zone) with 16 years of service with the commission, was taken to the Bukit Mertajam magistrate’s court this morning where police obtained a three-day remand order.

The MACC officer, a 38-year-old father of three, was detained at a nasi kandar restaurant in Taman Machang Bubok, Bukit Mertajam about 10.20pm yesterday, Seberang Perai Tengah district police chief Asistant Commissioner Nik Ros Azhan Nik Abdul Hamid said.

The arrest, he said, was made after the complainant, who has not been named by the authorities, handed over RM3,000 cash to the officer for allegedly not taking action against him.

“The complainant said the MACC officer contacted him via WhatsApp at 9.56pm on March 29, asking to meet. The complainant could not meet up as he was in Putrajaya.

“The complainant was repeatedly contacted by the MACC officer, but the former ignored him as he suspected that the officer would blackmail him with information that MACC had obtained on the D7 unit,” the police chief said.

The D7 unit deals with gambling, vice and secret society-related crimes.

Nik Ros Azhan said the complainant was informed by a colleague on June 5 that the MACC officer had wanted to see him to demand for a monthly fee of RM3,000 to “protect him from being arrested by MACC”.

He said the complainant and the MACC officer met on June 8 at the Petronas petrol station in Seberang Jaya, where the suspect told him to pay RM3,000 to him every month if he did not want MACC going after him, as he was in charge of reporting developments on illegal gambling activities.

“The MACC officer told the complainant to pay up on June 9. The complainant felt threatened and lodged the police report, which led to the MACC officer’s arrest,” Nik Ros Azhan said.

Police seized the RM3,000 which was found in MACC officer’s trouser pocket, his MyKad, MACC authority card, a pair of dark pants, a ladies’ bag, two 9mm SME bullet casings, a Volkswagen Polo Sedan, and an iPhone.

Nik Ros Azhan said the MACC officer is being investigated for extortion and faces a jail sentence of up to 10 years, with fine or whipping, or any two of such punishments.

This incident comes weeks after MACC arrested nine policemen in Malacca for allegedly protecting gambling dens and illegal massage parlous in the state.

In a statement following the arrest, MACC today said it would not compromise with any offence committed by its own officers and was ready to cooperate with the police in the probe.

The commission said it would not move an inch if any of its own officers broke the law and promised stern action would be taken against them for soiling the reputation of the anti-graft agency.

“Such acts do not represent the MACC, which at all times upholds the principles of the law and the Constitution in performing the duties entrusted to the commission. 

“We welcome stern action by the police in this arrest and will not interfere in the investigation.” – June 10, 2017.