MACC certified integrity officers (CeIOs) tasked with weeding out corruption in government agencies have been removed from their posts.

According to the New Straits Times, the 47 CeIOs embedded in ministries and government agencies were replaced with in-house integrity officers who report to the respective heads of organisations.

Citing sources, the report stated that there were numerous concerns over the move, including whether MACC would be prevented from carrying out its graft-busting duties, as well as transparency of internal probes.

“CeIOs were trained to identify corruption and abuse of power and they conducted investigations without bias.

“What will happen now if someone in the organisation comes forward, to these PTD officers, to report on their corrupt superiors, who are also their bosses?

“Will they take on the higher-ups?” a source was quoted as saying.

Contacted later, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Paul Low told Malaysiakini that a statement would be issued on the matter soon.

The CeIOs had been credited with high-profile busts by the MACC, including those involving Kuala Lumpur City Hall and the Youth and Sports Ministry.

The officers had been embedded in various medium- to high-risk agencies six years ago and were said to have created a fear of corruption among civil servants.

They had reportedly taken down 4,000 complaints, 1,600 of which were pursued until the end.