KUALA LUMPUR – Enforcement agencies such as the Customs Department, Inland Revenue Board and Immigration Department are under close watch following corruption uncovered by anti-graft authorities involving customs officers.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim warned these agencies, which are under the Finance Ministry, saying he was impacted as he is also the finance minister.
“The customs case really hurt me as the department is under the purview of the Finance Ministry,” Anwar said at a monthly assembly for Finance Ministry staff in Putrajaya this morning.
“I really hope we can stop this cheating because the majority (of officers) want to do good but are sometimes affected by the surrounding culture.
“The culture whereby, since everyone ‘sakau’ (steals), they also feel they should do it,” Anwar said.
He then named the agencies concerned and said the government is monitoring them closely.
Anwar also said a similar culture of cheating and hypocrisy existed in politics, highlighting the remarks people have made to him.
“I have had people say to me that as finance minister or prime minister, you should be collecting a lot of money.”
He reiterated that the government’s money belonged to the people, and that long-standing problems of leakages and wastage were hurting the nation’s economy.
Recently, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) uncovered RM2 billion losses in taxes over the past three years due to collusion between customs officers and a smuggling syndicate operating at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki said so far, a total of 34 law enforcement personnel and 27 individuals and company owners have been arrested through Ops Samba 2.0 for protecting and facilitating the syndicate’s smuggling activities.
He said the law enforcement personnel, aged between 30 and 50, were believed to have received more than RM4.7 million in bribes from the syndicate to facilitate the smuggling of chewing tobacco, cigarettes, alcohol, health products and vehicle spare parts.
Bernama also reported Anwar urging that the recent customs scandal should not create a bad image of all civil servants, as the case only involved a small number of officers.
“I congratulate the director-general of customs (Datuk Anis Rizana Mohd Zainudin) for not looking at it negatively, continue to take action, transfer and take disciplinary action (against personnel involved).
“Don’t let these few people tarnish the image of the public service,” he said. – April 2, 2024