A ‘good officer’ can still be corrupt

Transparency International Malaysia President Akhbar Satar says it is crucial for heads of ministries, departments and agencies to spot the red flags that may indicate a person is corrupt.

KUALA LUMPUR: A good officer does not mean he cannot be corrupt, says Transparency International Malaysia President Akhbar Satar.

He said this when commenting on the statement by Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Mansor that the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) officer recently detained for alleged corruption was a “good officer”.

Akhbar said corruption was a complex crime and that just because a person was a good officer, it did not mean he was not involved in corruption.

Akhbar said MACC would only detain a person when they had sufficient evidence.

“The best thing is to let MACC do its job.”

He said what was important was for heads of ministries, departments and agencies to spot the “red flags” that may indicate corruption, he told reporters after the launch of his book, “Rasuah, Jenayah & Malaysia”.

These red flags included signs that an employee was living beyond his means, a change in lifestyle, being too close with clients or suppliers, refusing to go on leave and refusing promotions, Akhbar said.

Yesterday, Adnan said the DBKL officer who was detained, a “Datuk Seri” was a good officer who had received two promotions in a year.

The DBKL officer was one of three senior civil servants nabbed by the MACC on Monday for alleged graft, abuse of power and money laundering.

The other two suspects – with Datuk titles – were attached to the Malacca Public Works Department (JKR) and Kelantan Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB).

Following the arrests, MACC seized luxury cars, froze bank accounts with more than RM13 million and recovered RM400,000 in cash and other valuables stashed in the ceiling of one of the suspect’s houses.

All three men are under remand for seven days, starting Tuesday.