Major catch
Exco man’s son held, luxury cars and RM20mil seized in land corruption scandal probe.
JOHOR BARU: The son of a state executive councillor and a special officer to the councillor have been arrested by anti-graft officers over a land corruption scandal.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) also seized 21 posh cars and five high-powered motorcycles – from luxury names such as Bentley, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Range Rover and Harley Davidson – during a swoop that began on Friday morning.
Besides the son and special officer, it is learnt that two developers, a lawyer and another person were also arrested.
A total of 45 bank accounts which contained RM15.5mil belonging to the six suspects has been frozen.
Foreign currency amounting to RM500,000 as well as stacks of documents were also seized.
It is believed that the suspects, aged between 25 and 50, have allegedly been getting kickbacks for reducing land premiums on land approved for housing projects and industries.
They are also involved in converting the status of buildings around Johor.
Sources said the lawyer was involved in preparing the legal documents for the projects.
It is learnt that the MACC, which has been probing the land scandal for the past six months, is expecting to make more arrests.
In a statement, MACC deputy chief commissioner (Operations) Datuk Azam Baki said the alleged corrupt practices are believed to have led to millions of ringgit in losses to the state government’s coffers.
“We are now examining the seized documents,” he said, adding that witnesses are expected to be called in.
The MACC has obtained a sevenday remand order on the six suspects starting yesterday.
The case is being investigated under Section 17(a) of the MACC Act, which carries a jail term of up to 20 years and a fine of RM10,000 or five times the value of the bribe, or whichever is higher, upon conviction.
The Star has not been able to contact the state executive councillor for comments while Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammed Khaled Nordin declined to comment.
He merely said that he would leave it to the MACC to issue statements.