A company owner was among six people arrested yesterday as part of a probe into bribes allegedly paid to a public officer in return for not taking action for electronic waste (e-waste) offences under the Environmental Quality Act 1974.
All six suspects were remanded by the Selangor Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission for four days from today following an application by MACC at the Shah Alam magistrates’ court, reported Sinar Harian.
According to a source, the suspects – four men and two women between 40 and 60 years of age – were arrested separately during raids in Negeri Sembilan and the Klang Valley yesterday.
“They are suspected of giving bribes ranging from RM2,000 to RM50,000,” said the source.
“They are believed to have committed the offences between February and November last year.”
Following the arrests, MACC also raided the factories and homes of the suspects, located around the Klang Valley and in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan.
Selangor MACC director Azwan Ramli confirmed the arrests and said the case is being investigated under Section 17(b) of the MACC Act 2009 for giving bribes.
MACC deputy chief commissioner (operations) Ahmad Khusairi Yahaya yesterday said the anti-graft agency was ramping up investigations after receiving information that as many as 3,000 containers of e-waste had been illegally brought into the country through major ports.
He said MACC did not rule out the possibility that certain authorities tasked with preventing the entry of such waste were protecting these companies.
Khusairi said that while valuable components such as copper, alloys and gold were extracted, the remaining waste was disposed of by burning, burying or direct dumping, polluting air and water sources.
