KUALA LUMPUR: Three civil servants and a former civil servant are being detained for allegedly accepting monthly bribes from illegal businesses in the city.
The main suspect is a Kuala Lumpur City Hall deputy director in his 40s. He is believed to have received RM100,000 and RM500,000 monthly from syndicates running unlicensed massage parlours, entertainment outlets, and other premises.
Sources said that besides the deputy director, another civil servant is his officer, and another is an enforcement officer.
"All three of them were detained on Friday (June 7) and remanded seven days until June 14.
"Another suspect, a former personnel of an enforcement agency, was remanded until June 12.
"The Magistrate granted the remand order on all suspects after the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) made the application at Dang Wangi police headquarters," the source said.
Sources said the deputy director has been receiving bribes for several months.
"The bribes are in exchange for allowing the illegal businesses to operate without enforcement action being taken against them.
"Following the arrest of the main suspect, the MACC arrested the remaining three others believed to have also accepted bribes and acted as middlemen to distribute the bribe money to several local council enforcement personnel," the source said.
Graft busters also seized RM200,000 cash and 28 gold wafers, the worth and weight of which have yet to be determined.
"All suspects were detained around Kuala Lumpur on Friday," the source said.
Meanwhile, KL MACC director Datuk Mohamad Fauzi Husin confirmed the arrests.
"The case is being investigated under Section 17(a) and Section 16(a)(A) of the MACC Act 2009," he said.