INCIDENCES of bribe taking, abuse of power and making false claims among civil servants in Penang are worrying, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Azam Baki said.

He said that based on its statistics, the anti-graft agency had received a total of 919 complaints of wrongdoing since 2019 until now.

“Many offences were committed but the crime of corruption is the favourite, which normally involves accepting bribes and abuse of power.

“We received 312 leads involving bribe taking and 147 on power abuse in Penang,” he said when appearing on the Cakna Rasuah (Corruption Awareness) programme on Penang RTM’s Mutiara FM radio.

“This trend is worrisome as it involves abuse of power such as using their (civil servants’) positions to award job contracts to family members or individuals who have blood relations,” he added.

Making false claims for work done is also commonly occurring crime in Penang, according to Azam.

“For example, an individual who has supposedly done a job makes a false claim for it as if he was the one who did the work. This happens a lot and it’s very damaging.

“These cases are increasing by the day, so I urge all department heads to monitor their officers who are given authority to make decisions,” he said.

Azam also said that civil servants were the MACC’s first target group (for monitoring and investigation), being the administrative pulse to a state or the country.

“Therefore, I have instructed my officers to look into corruption among civil servants in Penang and other states,” he added. – Bernama, September 29, 2022.