The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has nabbed four well-known wheeler-dealers in Sabah in three separate arrests beginning Tuesday this week, according to well-placed sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The sources provided Malaysiakini with the names of the four arrested but on condition that they are not published before MACC has issued a statement on the matter.  

According to the sources, 18 more suspects in Sabah - all connected with the four arrests - are on the MACC hit list.

Their names were not immediately available but it was confirmed that all of them, including a former bellboy at the Hilton Kuala Lumpur, were asked by MACC on April 29 to mandatorily declare their assets.  

Two of the four men were reportedly picked up in Kota Kinabalu on the first day, the third from Tawau in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday and the last in Keningau yesterday. The arrests are the talk of the town in “a state where there are no secrets”, as the locals proudly tell visitors.

All four suspects are being held under a five-day remand order issued by the Magistrate’s Court in Putrajaya.

Sabah MACC is tight-lipped on the arrests and has no plans to issue any statement on the matter.  

“It’s out of our hands,” confessed a Sabah MACC source in citing Putrajaya’s involvement in the matter.

“It’s unlikely that Putrajaya will issue a statement on this case since they wouldn’t want to jeopardise on-going investigations.”

'Politically sensitive' arrests

It has been reliably learnt that the public complaints which triggered off the latest arrests in Sabah were lodged directly at the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya, leading to the anti-corruption body interrogating a notorious underworld figure in Sandakan.

It could not be immediately established whether the complainants had earlier tried to see Sabah MACC on the same matter.

The story along the political grapevine, meanwhile, has the gory details on the arrests.

The sources who earlier tipped off Malaysiakini on the arrests, however,have denied that they are responsible for leaking the details of the case.

They cited the “politically sensitive nature” of the arrests as a reason for their remaining tight-lipped on further details.

It appears that the latest arrests involve at least US$300 million (RM960 million) deposited in Singapore and Hong Kong by the fourth arrested person, a Negeri Sembilan resident, in the account names of two individuals, including a senior lawyer in private practice.

The dragnet may also extend to Australia where the senior lawyer has “connections”. This could not be independently verified but appears to be substantially credible.

It is not known whether the individual arrested has any money in his name in Singapore and Hong Kong or was just the go-between bagman.

The fourth arrested person, it has been confirmed, runs a plywood factory in Keningau, which has substantial timber concessions including some sold to a Sarawak timberman from Sibu.

The fourth arrested is also connected with a publicly-listed company.

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