Low-ranking civil servants are being made scapegoats in the crusade against corruption while the 'big fish' escapes the net, said PAS Youth chief Mahfuz Omar today.

While acknowledging that battling graft was important, he stressed that the cleansing should begin from the top.

He added that of late Barisan Nasional leaders were serious in tackling corruption that ministers themselves have exposed cases at the grassroots level.

"PAS Youth is not discounting the possibility that this could be a strategy to cover-up the corruption among BN leaders by victimising the (lower-ranked) civil servants," he said in a statement.

He also noted that the Anti-Corruption Agency has suddenly become successful in exposing several corruption cases after being ordered to crackdown on such practices.

"All this while, didn't the ACA investigate or were they afraid to investigate due to the involvement of certain leaders.

"Now that there is an order , extensive probes are carried out, but is concentrated on (low-ranked) individuals only," he said.

As examples, he cited several cases such as the fiasco surrounding the construction of computer labs in schools and the problems in MAS and Tabung Haji (Pilgrims Fund).

Swift action

Mahfuz also questioned how a single complaint by a deputy minister against a local council officer could lead to prompt action, while numerous complaints against Selangor Menteri Besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo have failed to effect a similar response the facts and figures being submitted to the ACA.

The menteri besar has been accused of various wrongdoings ranging from land allocation to his questionable involvement in state projects, which he has denied.

The PAS leader was referring to the complaint lodged by Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department M Kayveas against MPAJ enforcement chief Abdul Kudus Ahmad ( right ).

Mahfuz said ACA conducted its investigations swiftly and charged Abdul Kudus but its probe into business tycoon Eric Chia and his company Perwaja Steel has been dragging for more than a decade.

"This is because Eric Chia is a friend of Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad," he stressed, adding that corruption cannot be eradicated unless the top leaders were charged.