KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 23 (Bernama) — The Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) sealed bribery assets worth RM25 million and forfeited another RM206,000 worth of assets which were acquired through corrupt practices last year.
ACA Deputy Director-General II Datuk Zakaria Jaffar said the action was taken under the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) 2001.
“This proved that the ACA is serious in combating corruption and whoever is involved in corrupt practices may face the might of the law,” he told reporters after delivering a working paper at a forum entitled “When a Gift is Considered a Bribe” organised by the Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia (IKIM) and ACA Community Education Consultation Division.
Presenting a paper entitled “Knowing Bribery in Form, Characteristics and Legality”, he said AMLA not only became ACA’s weapon in combating corruption but also create fear of the law among the people involved.
“Under the act, ACA can confiscate properties belonging to offenders and their family members. Imagine how much one would lose when the properties accumulated over the years through corruption are seized within a wink of an eye,” he said.
He said corrupt practices transgressed work ethics, religious values and social norms and they were well planned for personal gain.
“Let us find wealth through proper means. Although the gains are slow but they are safe, halal (allowed in Muslim law) and blessed,” he said.
Enforced on Jan 15 2001, the act empowered ACA to conduct investigation internationally and confiscate ill-gotten money kept in the country or abroad.
In his opening address, IKIM Chairman Tan Sri Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid suggested the declaration of assets which was compulsory in the civil service to be extended to the private sector.
Other panelists in the one-day forum were Prof Emeritus Datuk Dr Khoo Khay Kim, ACA Deputy Director-General I Datuk Ahmad Said Hamdan and Malaysian Institute of Integrity deputy president Mustafar Ali.
— BERNAMA
