The Prime Minister, Najib Abdul Razak, has proposed to amend the relevant laws next year to impose heavier penalties on the givers as well as those who accept bribes. He also urged stricter action against those who gave kickbacks, including private companies.
He described corruption as the root cause of many problems, ranging from environmental degradation, citing the illegal farming issues in Cameron Highlands, to illegal activities such as gambling. He said corruption can destroy all that we have built in this country when addressing the monthly assembly to the Prime Minister’s Department a few weeks ago.
Last month the MACC deputy chief commissioner Mohd Shukri Abdull stated that punishment for cases involving timber theft should be reviewed to provide for a heavier sentence because existing penalties have no effect on offenders. The existing fine of between RM50,000 and RM60,000 was no longer relevant since the culprits could earn millions of ringgit through illegal logging.
If need be, as an effective deterrent whipping should also be made a punishment for such offences, because the impact of their illegal acts not only result in loss of the country’s treasures, but also cause destruction to the environment.
In this regard Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) notes that the general penalty for any corruption related offences in the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 is ( i ) imprisonment for a term not exceeding 20 years; and ( ii ) ) a fine of not less than five times the sum or value of the gratification or ten thousand ringgit whichever is the higher. In comparison, the previous Anti-Corruption Act 1997, provides for (i) imprisonment for a term of not less than fourteen days and not more than twenty years maximum and (ii) a fine of not less than five times the sum or value of the gratification or ten thousand ringgit whichever is the higher.
Therefore, the ACA Act 1997 actually carries a more severe penalty with mandatory jail sentence of not less than 14 days and not exceeding 20 years and fines amounting to five times the bribe amount or RM10,000 (whichever amount is higher) if found guilty.
Even offences of criminal breach of trust (CBT) under Section 409 of the Penal Code carries a mandatory jail term of between two AND 20 years, together with mandatory whipping AND a fine upon conviction.
As for the penalty for cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code, it shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than one year (mandatory) and not more than 10 years and with whipping, and shall also be liable to fine, if found guilty.
The government should move ahead with this amendment to increase the penalties immediately and institute other amendments or new laws as needed. It is worth amending the existing law to provide a more severe punishment by at least inserting the section 16 of the Anti-Corruption Act 1997 to replace the penalty in the MACC Act 2009.
By reinforcing this clause, anyone found guilty will face a prison sentence of no less than 14 days to a maximum of 20 years in prison.
More brutal than violent crime
White-collar crime is more brutal than violent crime. The actions of one or a few corrupt public officials and corrupt businessmen can affect the livelihoods of thousands, even millions of people.
The punishment must be a deterrent so that offenders will not repeat the act. The implementation of harsher punishments would most likely reduce corrupt activities in this country. Surveys indicate that both the public and offenders consider prison to be the most severe or effective punisher of criminal behavior including white collar criminals. In China, white-collar criminals can be given the death penalty.
On another note, there have been indications of some forthcoming proposed amendments to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, expected to be tabled in Parliament next year and one of this is to include corporate liability offences under the Act. TI-M fully supports this amendment.
There is already in the international arena the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the UK Anti-Bribery Act, both of which have extra-territorial jurisdiction and hold corporations liable for corrupt acts of their employees and their subsidiaries’ employees. Malaysia is already behind on this and following in these footsteps will be a good move in the right direction.
Once this amendment is in effect, companies can be held responsible if their employees commit bribery, unless they can prove that they had taken measures to prevent it. Currently under the MACC Act, companies are not held liable for graft or corruption, as it is individuals such as employees who can be charged for bribery offences under the Act.
According to the KPMG Fraud, Bribery and Corruption Survey 2013, 90 percent of respondents stated that bribery and corruption is the major problem for businesses in Malaysia. Therefore, corporate liability has to be extended to cover the private sector so that companies will be taking responsibility for offences committed by its employees and sensitive in ensuring their business entities are transparent and corruption free.
Such an amendment would also strongly encourage companies to immediately look into their internal control policies to prevent bribes and ensure that there is comprehensive training program given to staff on ethics and integrity and promote good governance.
AKHBAR SATAR is president, Transparency International-Malaysia.
