Two cops may have integrity awards revoked for soliciting

PUTRAJAYA: Two police corporals, who were the recipients of integrity awards for rejecting a RM1,290 bribe, may have the awards taken back from them after they were detained for allegedly soliciting bribes.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) deputy chief commissioner Datuk Seri Mohd Jamidan Abdullah said they were looking to work with the police to revoke the awards should the two be found guilty.
"The decision will be made by the management of MACC and the police. But we are going to relook at the matter (the awards)," he told a press conference here today.
The two policemen, aged 34 and 37, were rewarded on May 31 after they rejected a RM1,290 bribe from two loan sharks in Sungai Petani, Kedah, on April 11 and handed them over to the MACC.
The loan sharks, upon their release two days later, then lodged a police report claiming that the two policemen were the ones who had tried to solicit RM10,000 in bribe from them.
Police, however, found no case due to the lack of evidence, and forwarded the case to MACC.
The two, who are attached to the Kuala Muda police headquarters, were subsequently held by MACC on July 4, and have since been granted a four-day remand order by the Sungai Petani magistrate’s court on July 5.
Kedah MACC director Datuk Mohd Fauzi Mohamad, in a statement, said the two policemen were being investigated under Section 17 (a) of the MACC Act 2009 for soliciting and bribery.
Mohd Jamidan was speaking to reporters after attending a corruption-free pledge ceremony by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA).
He commended MMEA for being among the best government agencies in terms of combating corruption and rejecting bribes, claiming that MMEA officers were the ones rewarded the most by MACC for reporting on bribery.
Jamidan added that to date, a total of 15 ministries, 57 agencies, 63 state departments, 24 statutory bodies, six universities, six private organisations and 20 government-linked companies and NGOs have taken the MACC's corruption-free pledge.