PAC: RM130.8m bail money invested in operator's name, e-Jamin had no contract for years

The e-Jamin system, a court bail payment service under the Office of the Chief Registrar of the Federal Court, has been operating for five years since 2020 without a formal contract with the federal government.

Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairperson Mas Ermieyati Samsudin said the system operated without letters of appointment, acceptance, intent, or any formal contractual agreement with the government.

“The e-Jamin system was initiated following a 2017 study by operator Dapat Vista Sdn Bhd to facilitate the court bail payment process and was implemented as a proof-of-concept (POC) approved by the chief justice. However, its implementation did not adhere to prevailing government financial and procurement procedures.

“E-Jamin operations across 192 courts nationwide have been running for five years since Jan 10, 2020, without any formal contractual agreement,” she told a press conference at the Parliament building today.

Mas Ermieyati (above), who is also the Masjid Tanah MP, said the findings were based on four proceedings on the management of the e-Jamin system held between Nov 4 and Dec 2, 2025.

She said the proceedings involved witnesses from the Prime Minister’s Department, the Finance Ministry, the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the office, the Accountant General’s Department (AGD) and Dapat Vista.

PAC investigations

Mas Ermieyati said that, of the RM193.71 million in bail deposits held in the account as of Dec 31, 2024, Dapat Vista was found to have invested RM130.8 million under the company’s name, generating annual interest of between RM4 million and RM5 million.

She said bail money paid through e-Jamin was deposited into the company’s commercial accounts, and the failure to account for the funds in the Consolidated Trust Account was in breach of Article 97(1) of the Federal Constitution and Section 7 of the Financial Procedure Act 1957.

She added that the PAC also found that the guarantee mechanism lacked a trustee structure, performance bond or insurance, effectively leaving the guarantor as an unsecured creditor exposed to financial risk in the event of the company’s bankruptcy.

The PAC also found an unverified balance discrepancy of RM557,258 between the e-Jamin system records and the company’s bank statements.

Mas Ermieyati said a previous directive to suspend the e-Jamin system for three days sparked widespread objections due to concerns over delays in the release of accused persons.

She said the ministry subsequently decided to continue using the existing system free of charge under a formal agreement involving a trustee bank structure.

“The PAC also concluded that the five-year period of contract-free operations, facilitated by repeated special exemptions, represented an excessively long period of financial non-compliance, especially given that the government possesses its own alternative channels for bail management, such as the eCourt Finance system, electronic fund transfers and the iPayment system,” she said.

Expedite negotiations

In light of this, Mas Ermieyati said the PAC recommended that the office and the ministry expedite negotiations to finalise a formal agreement with Dapat Vista to safeguard bail funds.

The committee also urged the government to finalise the definition of “public funds” to prevent confusion among agencies, while ensuring that the management and accounting of security deposits comply with Article 97(1) of the Federal Constitution and Sections 4 and 7 of the Financial Procedure Act 1957.

“The office is also advised to develop its own in-house security deposit module via eCF or e-Kehakiman to avoid vendor dependency and ensure 100 percent ownership of government data, in addition to expediting the reconciliation of criminal security deposit account balances and implementing periodic monitoring.

“The PAC also wants the ministry, AGC, and National Digital Department to tighten controls on information and communication technology procurement to ensure that no vendor operates without a valid contract from the first day of implementation.

“The ministry also needs to tighten the granting of special financial exemptions to uphold the principles of good governance,” she said.

Tabled in the Dewan Rakyat

The PAC’s statement on the matter was tabled in the Dewan Rakyat today after the issue received the committee’s special attention during a briefing on the Auditor General’s Report No 3/2025 on Oct 8, 2025.

According to the Auditor General’s Report 2/2024, the balance of the criminal bail deposit account under the e-Jamin system stood at RM182.94 million as of Dec 31 last year, down RM10.77 million from RM193.71 million previously.

“Criminal bail deposit receipts through the e-Jamin system were not accounted for as deposits in the federal government’s financial statements.

“This is because the deposits remain under the control of the external entity managing them and have not been remitted to the federal government,” the report stated.

The report noted that, as the legal instruments governing the management and collection of the funds had yet to be finalised, the ministry granted a special exemption from compliance with financial procedures for the management of receipts through the e-Jamin system until Aug 31, 2026.

Feedback from AGD dated Aug 27 stated that the office had submitted the cabinet memorandum and agreement documents to the relevant parties, but they had yet to be tabled at a cabinet meeting.

“Consequently, in a letter dated Aug 20, 2026, the office requested an extension of the special exemption from the ministry regarding compliance with financial procedures for managing bail receipts through the e-Jamin system, to allow the cabinet memorandum to be tabled and the necessary cabinet approval to be obtained,” the report stated.

- Bernama

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