Public services department director-general Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz has urged heads of federal and state departments to pay close attention to their subordinates’ financial health to prevent excessive indebtedness.
He said this is necessary to prevent civil servants from accumulating debts they cannot repay, which could affect their work.
“We do not want civil servants burdened with large debts to the point that it affects their focus at work, and leads to serious financial distress,” Bernama reported him as saying in Ayer Keroh, Melaka today.
Earlier this year, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission found nearly RM700 million in bank loans had been approved for borrowers through a syndicate that enabled civil servants with bad debts to obtain personal bank loans.
The loans had been approved over the past five years, starting from the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, during which officers from the banks involved profited from service fees and fees for settling bad debts.
The bank officers reportedly received RM5,000 for each loan they approved, with the bribes amounting to 1% of the loan value once they were approved.
The syndicate is understood to have visited government ministries and departments nationwide to engage with civil servants after claiming they offered financial consultancy services.
Wan Ahmad said the government already has clear regulations governing civil servants’ borrowing practices that must be strictly observed.
