MACC: 15 govt officers given warnings and some demoted following investigations

PUTRAJAYA: A total 15 government officers have been issued warnings while some demoted following investigations by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
The investigations were initiated following 49 punitive warnings issued against 99 officers in the 2014 Auditor-General's Report.
Chief Secretary to the Government, Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa (pix) said 20 others were in the process of being punished, while 64 were found to be innocent and released by the disciplinary board.
"As for last year's AG's Report, the government had set up six special investigation committees that were set up to investigate 10 punitive reprimands on four ministries.
"Based on their findings, we are expected to take disciplinary action against six officers from two ministries involving the management of procurement and services at the Civil Defence Department, the Prime Minister's Department; and the implementation of the Malaysian Immigration System (myIMMs) under the Home Ministry," he said.
If there is concrete evidence indicating the investigated officers were found to have committed any wrongdoing or negligence, he said disciplinary or court action will be taken against them.
Speaking at media's question and answer session for the media following the release of the AG's Report 2015 Series 1, he said a total 751 warnings were issued, from which 708 were corrective warnings and 43 punitive.
He said punitive warnings involved embezzlement, abuse of power, misconduct or negligence in the execution of duties, while corrective warnings were issued to improve the system and procedure.
Ali Hamsa stressed that the government did not tolerate any form of fund misappropriation or misconduct and would ensure strict action be taken.
"The government will continue to strive to create a high-performing public service with integrity," he said.
Asked on action against civil servants who are repeat offenders, he said he would take it personally to the ministries or department secretary-general and issue them a special reminder.
He said the transfer of civil servants identified in national audits is not to blame for the repeat of similar wrongdoings in different ministries.
"We are not transferring the problem when we conduct a transfer exercise so this is something unique by itself," he added, while mentioning that there are many things to be learnt from the AG's Report.
Ali also explained that the transfer exercise is not one-off and is something ongoing and also involves officers holding high positions, including those in law enforcement.
"Even though there are vast improvements in terms of the figure for punitive action – dropping from 149 in 2013 to 43 in 2015, I am still not satisfied," he said.
At a press conference later, Home Ministry secretary-general, Datuk Seri Alwi Ibrahim said poor book-keeping and record management led to the Immigration Department's failure in furnishing the National Audit Department (NAD) with the relevant documents on payments made, during the time of the auditing process.

On the lack of supporting documents on a RM 22.64 million payment by the department, he said "there had been no improper pay-outs made and the transaction is backed with relevant documents".
"The NAD had already been informed and given copies of the documents which includes invoices, service authentication letters and others. The issue stemmed solely from the departments unsystematic practice of record maintenance and management coupled with the Immigration department's recent move to a new premise".
On another note, he said the decision to give out permits to more than 3,000 medically unfit workers was made after the Immigration Appeals Committee conducted a review on each individual case.