‘Mr Fixer’ syndicate busted in Sabah

KOTA KINABALU: A syndicate that purportedly promised it could close graft cases being investigated by the authorities has been busted by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

Six men and a woman, who posed as MACC and Home Ministry personnel, are believed to have cheated victims of hundreds of thousands of ringgit by offering to “settle” cases.

“They have been cheating victims with the promise to get them off the hook in any case and collected money for it,” said sources.

It was learnt that the Sabah MACC and police carried out raids across the city over the past few days and arrested seven locals aged between 20 and 30.

The investigators also recovered fake VVIP passes for the Home Ministry and palace as well as government uniforms during the raids.

According to a source, the key suspects were a couple sought by MACC and they were arrested early yesterday.

Some of the other suspects have allowed their bank accounts to be used for victims to deposit their money into.

Sabah MACC is expected to obtain a remand for the suspects at the Special Corruption Court in Kota Kinabalu today.

When contacted, Sabah MACC director Datuk S. Karunanithy confirmed the arrests and said the suspects were being investigated for demanding bribes under Section 17(a) of the MACC Act 2009.

He also called on members of the public with information related to this syndicate to come forward and cooperate with the MACC.

“I would also like to advise the public not to allow others to use their bank accounts,” he added.

Members of the public are also cautioned against believing individuals who introduce themselves as senior public officials from the MACC or senior officers from the Home Ministry offering to resolve their cases.