Senior cop spills the beans on top brass to anti-graft body in exchange for immunity

A senior police officer, one of 60 officers under probe for graft, is among several policemen brokering deals with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to assist in fingering more crooked cops in return for immunity from prosecution.

An MACC official familiar with the investigations told The Malaysian Insider that the senior police officer and several others were prepared to name several other senior police officers in return for their freedom.

"Investigations have been ongoing for several months now and investigators have discovered about 30 senior police officers who are living beyond their means," the official said.

"Many of these senior police officers, who are based nationwide, were found to have at least RM1 million or more in their respective bank accounts.

"These officers did not even bother to hide their wealth or attempt to do so," the official said, adding that investigations for corrupt practices and money laundering were ongoing.

However, the official added that investigators were spending a lot of time following the paper trail to establish where the police officers had amassed their wealth.

"In order to secure a successful conviction, the MACC is willing to strike deals with other policemen," the official added.

Earlier this month, The Malaysian Insider reported that a disgruntled policeman's complaint to the MACC marked the beginning of an investigation that has resulted in some 60 policemen being probed.

The anti-graft operation is a joint effort by the MACC, Bank Negara, the Inland Revenue Department, the National Registration Department, the Immigration Department and Customs.

The policemen are alleged to have collected bribes from operators of illegal businesses in the Federal capital.

The businesses ranged from illegal gaming cybercafes to massage parlours and vice dens, the official said.

Depending on the type of business, each operator paid between RM10,000 and RM50,000 a month to the policemen to avoid being raided and hassled, he added.

Due to the MACC probe, a senior police officer with a Datuk honorific was recently transferred to the Bukit Aman police secretariat.

The Datuk was questioned by the MACC which discovered more than RM6 million stashed away in various accounts.

However, the MACC official told The Malaysian Insider that the RM6 million was merely the tip of the iceberg.

As investigations intensified, MACC had also seized luxury vehicles, such as a Range Rover Evoque (worth RM400,000), Nissan Skyline (RM388,000), Toyota Vellfire (RM450,000), BMW 7-series (RM800,000) and Mercedes-Benz E-class (RM400,000) from the suspects.

The MACC had also discovered that the policemen had set up various shell companies, naming their family members and relatives as proxy directors.

The companies had used the ill-gotten gains to buy various properties, including shoplots and condominiums.

The MACC had probed various shell companies and followed the money trail until it led back to the policemen.

Besides properties and luxury vehicles, police had also seized a substantial amount of money, jewellery and gold from some of the policemen.

“Their bank accounts were scrutinised, including transactions over the past few years. Properties in their names or those of their family members, loans, overseas trips, their monthly and annual expenses and their close friends all came under the microscope," the official said.