Intermediary remanded over Malacca protection money racket probe

PUTRAJAYA: A man suspected to be an intermediary was remanded today for six days to assist in the investigation into the alleged protection money racket in Malacca.
Magistrate Nadia Othman issued the remand order against the 32-year-old man upon an application by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission at the Putrajaya Magistrate's Court here.
An MACC source said the man was arrested at 9pm yesterday after he had given a statement at the MACC headquarters here.
The self-employed man was allegedly an intermediary who collected bribes and handed them over to the suspects, the source said.
It said the man's bank account was used to deposit the bribes, and the amount of money seized had yet to be determined by the MACC.
The man was one of four civilians and the 11th suspect arrested in connection with the case of allegedly collecting money to protect massage parlours and illegal gambling dens, the source said.
The arrests of the 11 people, among them several senior police officers, were part of MACC efforts to combat corruption involving massage parlours and illegal gambling dens which was rampant due to the lack of integrity among the enforcement authorities.