Two senior officers of a government agency in Kota Kinabalu were arrested today on suspicion of having abused their power in the granting of a project.

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers also seized from them about RM3 million kept in a safe in the office of one of the suspects.

An MACC source told Bernama the suspects, aged 51 and 54, were picked up at their office at 9.15am.

The source said the two suspects, who were a director and a deputy director, were suspected of having given projects under the purview of their department to relatives.

“Their department had handled infrastructure construction projects valued at more than RM3.3 billion since 2010, and they had monopolised these projects and given them to their relatives,” the source said.

He said the abuse of power probably began in 2010, and it is believed that they had amassed more than RM50 million in wealth.

The source said the RM3.3 billion allocation was federal funding and did not include state funds.

“Raids were conducted by the MACC at several places, including at the agency and contractor companies.

“What the officers did was not only illegal but also affected the livelihood of other contractors who lost out on the tenders,” he said.

The source said the suspects were being investigated under Section 17(a) of the MACC Act, Section 165 of the Penal Code and for money-laundering.

MACC deputy chief commissioner (operations) Azam Baki, when contacted, confirmed the arrests but declined to elaborate.

- Bernama