Malaysian state probes huge graft claims:
report
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - – A Malaysian state government is probing
investigators' claims that up to 60 percent of infrastructure funds
possibly amounting to billions of dollars have been siphoned off, a
report said Sunday.
The deputy chief minister of Sarawak state on the resource-rich
island of Borneo, George Chan, said his government would look into
the allegation made by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission
(MACC).
"The state government is investigating. We also want the MACC to
give us a full and detailed briefing on these claims," he told the
Star newspaper, which said the total lost could run to
"billions".
"If indeed funds from the government meant for projects for the
rakyat (people) and the poor had been misappropriated, the state
government wants action taken," he was quoted as saying by the
English-language paper.
MACC deputy chief commissioner Zakaria Jaffar said Wednesday
that state graft-busters had unearthed embezzlement after they
investigated road, housing and building projects completed between
2002 and 2008.
The Sarawak MACC found that "only about 40 percent of the
allocations were spent while the remaining 60 percent is 'bocor'
(leaked out)", he said, according to the English-language Borneo
Post.
Zakaria said some projects were poorly completed but others did
not even materialise although they were paid for in full.
"When we talk about development projects in the state, there are
many cases of fake claims, whether it involves the (state) officers
or the contractors," he added.
Zakaria did not disclose the location or number of projects
investigated. The MACC could not be reached for comment Sunday.