There is intense speculation over who masterminded an ongoing campaign to discredit a MACC top officer by alleging that he had an affair with a married woman.

The matter came to light after a video was uploaded online, alleging that the two were involved in a romantic rendezvous in Bali in July.

The video also contained flight details of the woman as well as the couple's check-in details at a hotel in Bali.

Umno supreme council member Mohd Puad Zakarshi (photo) said that the video was the work of unnamed political forces who were unnerved by MACC's work.

"I condemn those who tried to defame the MACC (officer) with this overly-sensationalised story.

"It was made with the intention of blackmailing (the officer and) MACC into not taking firm action in fighting corruption involving certain prominent political figures," he said.

Political victim?

Similarly, Berita Harian quoted the MACC's Corruption Prevention Advisory Board president Tunku Aziz Tunku Ibrahim speculating that the said "top officer" is a political victim.

"For the longest time, a lot of people, in particular the opposition, claimed that MACC is only interested in ikan bilis (anchovies) and now sharks.

"But now, MACC is not like that. Every day, every week, someone is being nabbed for graft and brought to justice.

"Corrupt politicians are feeling unease. They want (the top officer) to fail by questioning his morality.

"They want to him to fail by destroying his reputation and credibility to affect MACC's credibility," said Tunku Aziz (photo) on Sunday.

Likewise, Malaysia-Today editor Raja Petra Kamaruddin speculated that opposition parties such as Parti Warisan Sabah are behind the "smear" campaign because of MACC's investigations on the party's top leaders.

Gambling bosses too?

Meanwhile, Utusan Malaysia's senior news editor Zulkiflee Bakar, in an editorial today, offered a different perspective by speculating that illegal gambling operators are behind the campaign to "smear" the "top officer".

He argued that these criminals have been compromising enforcement authorities with bribes and that they are in the MACC's crosshairs.

"The (gambling bosses) are hiding behind benevolent corporations. These are the tactics of the gambling tauke who have 'Tan Sri' or 'Datuk' titles.

"This makes it difficult to shut down gambling syndicates because they are hiding behind legitimate businesses.

"However, when they see MACC's vigorous efforts to stamp out graft and abuses, the syndicates and their beneficiaries in enforcement agencies cannot sit still," wrote Zulkiflee.

According to the inspector-general of police Mohamad Fuzi Harun this morning, the police are investigating the alleged affair under Section 498 of the Penal Code.

The title of the said law reads: "Enticing or taking away or detaining with a criminal intent a married woman".

If convicted under this law, a person can be jailed up to two years, fined or both.

Previous attempts to seek comments from MACC on the alleged affair have been unsuccessful.