LABUAN: The senior officer of a Labuan federal government agency under investigation for abuse of power and corruption was released yesterday from custody under the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, but has been rearrested to be remanded further.
The 59-year-old officer was rearrested after his release by Magistrate Haizah Tamin. The officer did not attend court but was represented by his lawyer.
An MACC source said the officer would be investigated further under Section 17 of the MACC Act 2009.
The officer was arrested on Nov 21 along with two contractors in their 40s who were released on Friday on MACC bail.
The MACC source said the extension of remand for the officer would be applied for tomorrow in the Magistrate’s Court.
The officer and the contractors were remanded for seven days from last Tuesday to assist in the investigation over a RM12-million food court being built in Tanjung Purun.
Following their arrest, the MACC froze 12 bank accounts belonging to the officer and members of his family containing a total sum of RM889,000 believed to be part of the millions of ringgit obtained through alleged corruption.
Any person charged and convicted under Section 17(a) of the MACC Act 2009 is liable to a maximum jail term of 20 years and a fine of RM10,000 or five times the transacted amount, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
The MACC has summoned nine individuals, six of them government officers, to assist in the investigation.
Meanwhile, the MACC has detained two senior civil servants in Malacca and Johor for alleged corrupt practices.
It is learned that the first suspect, aged 55, who was picked up in Malacca about 2pm on Monday, was allegedly involved in corrupt practices, including soliciting for kickbacks in exchange for the approval of projects.
The MACC is currently in the midst of tracing the number of projects involved, and more individuals will be picked up to assist with investigations.
Additionally, dozens of bank accounts containing millions of ringgit have been frozen.
The civil servant is expected to be brought to court and remanded today.
The second suspect, an assistant land district officer, was detained when he appeared at the Johor MACC office to have his statement recorded about 2pm on Monday.
Initial investigations showed that the suspect allegedly misused his position to obtain land and owned several plots of agricultural land covering 16.75 acres.
Additionally, he allegedly amassed 68 acres of jointly developed land, residential land and a high-end unit in Johor.
Johor MACC director Datuk Simi Abdul Ghani said that the suspect would be brought to the court for a remand order to extend his detention to assist with the probe under Section 23 of the MACC Act 2009.