Another civil servant arrested for taking bribe in Johor

An assistant land officer at a district land office in Johor has been arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) today for allegedly taking bribe.

According to an MACC source, the 56-year-old suspect was picked up at the Johor MACC headquarters, believed to have accepted bribe in the form of 'loan' worth RM150,000 in a land deal.

"The bribe was from a company owner who usually dealt with the civil servant on matters related to applications and payment of land-related work permit.

"The suspect is also believed to have used his son's or daughter's name as a proxy for investment in Malay reserve land with the company owner," the source told Bernama here today.

It is learnt that the man had made a profit of about RM100,000 from the land deal.

MACC deputy chief commissioner (Operation) SPRM, Datuk Azam Baki when contacted confirmed the arrest and said that the suspect would be charged at the Sessions Court in Johor Bahru tomorrow.

From its investigations on Nov 29, the MACC confirmed that the man owned several plots of agricultural land measuring over 30 hectares, besides a luxury house and residential land in several districts in Johor.

This is the third arrest made by the MACC this week after that of Rural and Regional Development Ministry secretary-general Datuk Mohd Arif Ab Rahman for alleged abuse of power and corruption.

Earlier today, former managing director and chief executive officer of TEKUN Nasional Datuk Abdul Rahim Hassan was charged at the Sessions Court here with soliciting and accepting bribe of RM36,000 from a debt collection company two years ago. - BERNAMA