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MALAYSIA has suffered losses amounting to RM277 billion in national revenue over the past six years, a figure driven not solely by blatant corruption, but also by entrenched collusion among individuals and entities responsible for overseeing government and public-linked funds.
In a special interview at MACC headquarters on Tuesday, Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki said the leakage of funds is closely tied to the abuse of procurement systems, especially those involving project tenders.
“One of the issues in leakages is related to government fund procurement involving project tenders. They rush to secure their respective tenders, not only at the government level but also within government-linked companies (GLCs),” he said.
Azam emphasised that corruption inflates project costs and directly robs the state of revenue, with serious consequences for ordinary Malaysians.
“The act is eventually covered up by increasing the project cost. To account for the bribes, the cost of a project is inflated—sometimes by 10 to 15 per cent. This directly impacts the people,” he said.
He added that revenue losses extend beyond procurement fraud. Due to corruption, authorities tasked with collecting state revenue—including taxes, licences, and border duties—are either turning a blind eye or actively complicit.
“Because of corruption, some parties turn a blind eye or deliberately ignore government revenue collection. This happens at the borders and even among those tasked with collecting national revenue,” he said.
Azam noted that the MACC is stepping up enforcement efforts, in addition to its preventive measures.
“Many investigations and arrests have been carried out to stem national revenue leakages due to corruption,” he said.
Between January and 31 July this year alone, 728 investigation papers were opened by the MACC. Of these, 109 were classified as high-profile, public-interest, and sensitive cases, while the remaining 619 were standard corruption probes.
The breakdown of the 728 cases includes:
Private agencies (280), federal government (198), civilians (104), state governments (95), statutory bodies (38), and government-linked companies and politicians (13).
The most common offence recorded was filing false claims (251 cases), followed by accepting bribes (239), abuse of position (89), money laundering (54), and offering bribes (47).
During the same period, a total of 906 individuals were arrested. Of those, 308 were charged in court, and 135 have been convicted.
The MACC also reported seizing RM6.81 billion under the MACC Act 2009 and the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001. An additional RM5.7 million was frozen and forfeited.
Azam concluded by stressing the need for rigorous transparency reforms, warning that without serious structural change, corruption will continue to drain public funds and erode national institutions. - September 11, 2025