GEORGE TOWN: A syndicate involved in corrupt activities involving lorry operators has been crippled with the arrest of 31 persons, including 23 officers of the Road Transport Department (JPJ).
All of them have been detained by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). The JPJ officers are being held are being investigated for being part of a network of people who have been ignoring various traffic offences, particularly those involving the movements of overloaded lorries.
Sources told theSun that the suspects were detained after they gave a statement at the MACC headquarters on Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah here on Tuesday.
The suspects are aged 31 to 54. Of the 31 suspects, three are women.
The women are said to have acted as proxies for the JPJ officers. One of them is believed to be the owner of a lorry transport company that provides logistics services across the northern region.
The suspects are said to have accepted bribes of RM10,000 to RM32,000 each per month.
MACC investigators believe that this is only the first wave of arrests. They believe that up to 75 officers of the JPJ may already be complicit in the bribery activities.
The modus operandi was to paste a special sticker on the lorries so corrupt officers could distinguish them during enforcement operations.
MACC (operations) deputy chief commissioner Datuk Seri Azam Baki has confirmed this case, and said the suspects would be remanded at the magistrate’s court here tomorrow under Section 7(a) of the MACC Act 2009.
