MACC arrests six over false payment claims of RM2.5m for shoddy school repairs in Selangor
KUALA LUMPUR, March 23 — The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) arrested six people yesterday on suspicion of submitting false payment claims for the maintenance and repairs of school facilities around Selangor.
In a statement today, the MACC said that its Selangor director Datuk Alias Salim confirmed the arrests and that the case is being investigated under Section 18 of the MACC Act 2009.
Another source within the commission was cited in the same statement as saying that those arrested were aged between 40 and 57, and that they were apprehended in three separate operations conducted between 5pm and midnight.
All six were arrested when they came into the Selangor MACC office after being called to give a statement to the commission.
“The source said that in the first operation, a 52-year-old man, who is also the owner of a company, is suspected to have submitted a false payment claim amounting to more than RM760,000 for maintenance work at a school in Batu Arang in 2020, even though the work did not follow the set specifications,” read the statement.
It said the second operation involved a 41-year-old contractor who is suspected of submitting false claims for more than RM860,000 in 2020 although the work in question was not completed.
“Meanwhile, four more suspects were arrested in the third operation because they are suspected of submitting false claims worth more than RM870,000 involving the maintenance work of a school in Semenyih in 2020 when the work was not completed,” read the statement.
It said that one of the suspects in the third operation, a 57-year-old company owner, was released on bail due to health factors.
Magistrate Nur Syuhada Abdullah issued a five-day remand order against the six individuals from today until March 27 after the MACC made an application at the Magistrates’ Court in Shah Alam this morning.
