Azalina: Civil servants top arrests for receiving bribes in past decade

Putrajaya has revealed that civil servants made up the majority of cases involving the receiving of bribes, with a whopping 2,965 personnel from the public sector arrested between 2015 and June 30 this year.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said noted that within the same time frame, 47 government employees were detained for offering bribes.

Citing information received from the MACC, Azalina added that a total of 119 individuals in GLCs were arrested for accepting corrupt gratification, while 64 were apprehended for offering bribes.

While the private sector saw 1,101 individuals taken into custody for receiving bribes and 511 nabbed for offering inducements, politicians were at the bottom of the list, with 31 arrested for receiving bribes and only six arrested for making corrupt offers. 

In a parliamentary written reply yesterday, Azalina also said that 680 members of the public were detained for obtaining gratification, while another 1,061 were suspected of attempting to bribe.

“MACC opens investigation papers based on information and complaints received, and carries out its duties and responsibilities in accordance with the MACC Act 2009,” the minister stressed. 

She provided the figures in response to a query from PAS’ Jerantut MP Khairil Nizam Khirudin, who had requested statistics on bribe givers and receivers by ethnicity, age group, and occupational sector over the past 10 years.

Givers or takers, under 40 group takes the cake

In her response, Azalina said a total of 4,896 people were arrested for receiving bribes, with Malays making up 3,690 cases, followed by Chinese (494), other races (449), and Indians (263).

Arrests for giving bribes stood at 1,689, comprising 630 Chinese, 518 from other racial groups, 390 Malays, and 151 Indians.

Meanwhile, 2,603 people aged 40 and below were arrested for accepting bribes, followed by 2,097 aged between 41 and 60, and 196 aged 61 and above.

For giving bribes, the 40-and-below group again topped the list with 981 arrests, followed by 622 in the 41 to 60 age group, and 86 among those aged 61 and above.

In May last year, then-chief secretary to the federal government Zuki Ali reportedly said that in 2020, there were only 74 convictions out of 1.48 million civil servants in corruption cases, with the figure dropping to 70 the following year before declining further to 21 in 2022.

He was quoted as saying then that the declining numbers are evidence of how civil servants still practise a work culture with integrity.

However, he said the government takes seriously the “small group” that could potentially damage the public service’s image and will not tolerate misconduct involving integrity.

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