Officers remanded to assist in graft probe
KUANTAN: Two army personnel have been remanded for a week here to assist in a corruption probe.
They were believed to have given out dozens of projects to crony companies in exchange for kickbacks over the past few years.
One of them, a 57yearold leftenankolonel, was arrested on Thursday afternoon in Temerloh.
The other personnel with the rank of staff sergeant, aged 44, was detained later in the evening on the same day after he was summoned to the Malaysian AntiCorruption Commission (MACC) office here.
Both men were tasked to look after the eastern zone maintenance unit of the defence engineering services division.
They were brought before magistrate Nurunaim Abdullah, who granted the remand application yesterday.
The MACC will investigate both suspects under Section 23 of the MACC Act.
MACC deputy chief commissioner (operations) Datuk Azam Baki said both men were suspected to have approved a number of projects to companies with vested interest.
“We are checking whether other personnel are also involved,” he said.
The leftenankolonel was tasked with the supervision of construction works and ratifying the specifications and submission of claims by contractors on the com pletion of jobs.
One of the proxy 50 firms which raised suspicion of the MACC was owned by his father.
The suspect’s wife is also a director at the firm.
Meanwhile, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said there should be no trial by the media.
Referring to the case of the leftenankolonel, he said: “Let the authorities carry out their investigations.
“Do not accuse or punish those who haven’t even gone through the legal process,” he said during a site visit to Resorts World Langkawi where the maritime segment of Lima will be held.