MACC seizes RM29 million in connection with probe over ministry's fund embezzlement

The Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) has seized another RM29 million in connection with its investigation into the alleged fund embezzlement of a ministry.

MACC Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Dzulkifli Ahmad said this today when delivering his speech at the 9th International Conference on Financial Crime and Terrorism Financing (IFCTF), here.

"Yesterday we have freezed more than RM150 million in the bank account in a recent Sabah case and I was told just now another RM29 million (in the bank account) have been frozen today," he said.

Yesterday, more than RM150 million were seized when investigators swooped in on 15 locations in Sabah during an operation.

The MACC has yet to reveal the name of the ministry concerned.

Meanwhile in his speech, Dzulkifli also revealed the amount of corrupt monies seized and recovered had been staggering.

"In 2015, MACC forfeited RM3.9 million while last year (2016) RM4.95 million was forfeited.

"While for this year, only up till September, the amount of RM21.4 million has been successfully forfeited. This present amount reflects a successful increase of almost 400 per cent as compared to the previous year," he said.

He said the success of this robust enforcement efforts was evidence to the crucial role and effectiveness of compliance.

"The achievement of MACC could only be credited to the growing awareness, influence and excellent cooperation with our partners in the compliance community.

"However, these accomplishments should not get into our heads and we cannot afford to slow down our enforcement efforts," he said.

Dzulkifli said MACC could still do more and achieve more with the right compliance mind set.

-- BERNAMA