Another detained in probe into issuing driving licences in Sabah

KOTA KINABALU: Graft-busters have arrested another suspect in connection with a syndicate involving enforcement officers approving driving licences for applicants without the compulsory driving tests here.

The foreigner in his 40s was detained when he went to provide a statement at the Lahad Datu Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) office at 4pm on Tuesday (Nov 21).

A seven-day remand order beginning Wednesday (Nov 22) was issued by Magistrate Ryan Sagiran Rayner Junior following an application by the MACC.

According to a source, the suspect had allegedly given bribe money between 2021 and 2022 to enforcement officers in return for them to issue driving licences to candidates without the latter having to sit through the required tests.

“The modus operandi by this middleman involved asking from each applicant somewhere between RM400 and RM1,200 before passing the money to enforcement officers for the issuance of driving licences of various classes,” said the source.

Sabah MACC director Datuk S Karunanithy confirmed the arrest, adding the suspect was being investigated under Section 17(a) of the MACC Act 2009.

On Monday (Nov 20), the MACC roped in four enforcement officers for accepting some RM300,000 in return for approving the licences without the compulsory driving tests.

The suspects are men in their 30s and were believed to have accepted the bribes between 2021 and 2022.

The group’s illegal actions are believed to have cost the government about RM1.5mil in losses.