‘Corruption distancing’ to stem graft scourge
Apart from boosting corporate integrity, prevention is a step towards profitability, says activist
PETALING JAYA: Besides organising workshops on enhancing productivity and profitability, corporations should also consider holding talks on preventing corruption and bribery, said a prominent anti-graft activist.
Malaysian Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) president Datuk Seri Akhbar Satar said yesterday besides boosting the integrity of a corporation, corruption prevention is a step towards profitability.
“The ACFE, in its Report to Nations 2020, states that a corporation that does not practise integrity and a culture of anti-corruption, stood to lose up to 5% of its revenue. It pays to prevent corruption,” he told theSun.
Akhbar likened corruption to a contagious disease that has wrecked the economy.
He said large corporations that have deep pockets engage in unethical business practices to influence governments at their whims and fancies, eroding the trust of the people and undermining democracy.
Over the past five years, more than 800 individuals have been arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for graft involving commercial organisations, and billions of ringgit worth of assets were seized.
“For every crooked politician or bureaucrat, there will be a businessman willing to grease his palm. The real culprits are the bribe-givers. If they do not offer kickbacks, there will be no takers,” Akhbar said.
“Just as how the world desperately awaits for the development of a vaccine for the Covid-19 contagion, the ‘vaccine’ against corruption is obviously prevention. Going by the current buzz phrase – social distancing – a new phrase called ‘corruption distancing’ should be introduced to contain this deadly scourge.”
Akhbar said the key legislative change in fighting corruption in the private sector is the recently enforced provisions of Section 17A of the MACC Act which imposes criminal liability on commercial organisations for failure to prevent corruption.
“The onus has shifted to the directors, partners and management to prove that they had put in place adequate procedures to prevent corrupt practices in their establishments.”