Malaysia recorded a loss of RM277 billion due to crimes related to corruption over a 5-year period, based on cumulative estimates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
According to a report by Harian Metro, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Chief Commissioner, Tan Sri Azam Baki, shared that the statistics were recorded for the period from 2018 to 2023. This equates to an average of RM55 billion per year!
“In the current complex, unpredictable and ever-changing environment, corruption has also changed its face to become more cunning. Referring to the investigation pattern in recent years, corruption is not carried out openly but hidden behind fraud tactics,”
“Among them, forgery of business documents, use of proxy companies, legitimising corrupt transactions by disguising them as company operating costs such as consulting fees, entertainment expenses or development costs, as well as money flows arranged through several layers of transactions to make it difficult to trace their trail,” he said.
Tan Sri Azam Baki added that the typology of corruption these days is much more complicated.
“What is more worrying is that almost all of these fraudulent tactics are through accounting and auditing processes and systems.”
Considering how neatly arranged these crimes are, it makes MACC’s task of uncovering and exposing them much more difficult.
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“These figures are not just statistics, but a clear indication of how corruption also opens the door to various other corruption-related offences such as forgery, manipulation in the preparation of financial statements, and misappropriation of company funds have undermined the integrity of government and private sector policies, processes, systems and delivery,”
“The end result is large-scale leakage, loss of investor and public confidence and setbacks in national progress.”
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