COMMENT | Kuala Lumpur was recently shaken by revelations surrounding a well-known massage centre network allegedly paying up to RM2.7 million a year in protection money to enforcement officers.

What matters is not the nature of the business, but what the case exposes. Corruption here was not incidental. It appears to have been organised, sustained, and enabled from within parts of the system meant to enforce the law.

The investigation uncovered more than alleged bribes. It revealed a structure.

A two-layer accounting system was reportedly used, with a large portion of cash sales kept off the books.

The estimated tax leakage alone runs into...