The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has detained 19 divisional and district heads of a state government agency to facilitate investigations into a case of abuse of power involving infrastructure projects in Sabah.

MACC deputy chief commissioner (operations) Datuk Azam Baki said the suspects, aged between 29 and 59, were nabbed in the second phase of an operation after the first operation on Oct 4.

He said the operation was launched after the MACC had gathered additional information and evidence through analyses on seized documents.

"In the operation which was carried out simultaneously on 27 locations involving the state government agency throughout Sabah yesterday, MACC also seized RM4.2 million from several suspects.

"The MACC also froze RM3.6 million in several bank accounts belonging to several suspects," Azam said in a statement today.

He said initial investigations found divisional and district heads had collected between 27 percent and 30 percent of the total contract amounts for the contractors to be awarded several of the agency's projects in Sabah.

According to him, various procurement and claim documents were also seized in the operation and until now, the MACC officers were still examining them.

The MACC has requested four courts in Sabah to issue remand orders against all the suspects and of the 19 officers detained, 18 were ordered to be held in remand while another was released.

Azam said 14 suspects were remanded for seven days at the Kota Kinabalu Magistrate's Court here; three were held in remand for four days at the Tawau Magistrate's Court and another one was remanded for seven days at the Sandakan Magistrate's Court.

"The MACC wants to stress that investigations into this case is only to probe the involvement of these government officers in accepting bribes and abuse of power. So far, it does not involve any politician, whether at state or federal level," he added.

As such, Azam urged all parties not to politicise and speculate on the case as it could jeopardise investigations.

READ: Power abuse: Sabah govt dept director released on RM500,000 bail

"MACC takes this matter seriously and assures that investigations will be carried out in a transparent manner," he said, urging those with information on the case to facilitate investigations.

On Oct 4, the MACC arrested four individuals, including a director and a deputy director of a state government agency in Sabah to facilitate investigations into an abuse of power case involving infrastructure projects in the state.

However, the four suspects were released on bail of between RM50,000 and RM500,000 in two sureties. -- Bernama