MOA’s political secretary arrested for bribery

A political secretary of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister (MOA) has been taken into custody by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on a suspicion of receiving a bribe in the form of a watch worth RM28,000.

Agriculture and Agro-based Industry minister Datuk Salahuddin Ayub confirmed the arrest and has refused to interfere with the on-going investigation.

The political secretary, Ahmad Sabki Yusof, is believed to have accepted the watch as an inducement to enable a project developer to be awarded projects under the ministry’s purview.

However, Ahmad Sabki is not the first political secretary to be arrested by MACC.

Back in 2017, two people were detained by MACC, the first was the secretary-general of Rural and Regional Development Ministry (KPLB) Datuk Mohd Arif Ab Rahman and the other was the political secretary of Human Resources Minister Datuk Peter Runin.

Mohd Arif was arrested along with gold bars, 150 luxury handbags, branded watches and foreign currencies seized from his home, located in USJ3, Subang Jaya.

On the other hand, Runin was arrested when he went to MACC headquarters in Putrajaya to have his statement recorded, following the misappropriation of allocations channelled into Skills Development Fund Corporation (PTPK).

While the former and his son were sentenced to eight years of imprisonment, the latter was released on MACC bail of RM30,000.

Ahmad Sabki is currently being investigated under Section16(a) (A) of the MACC Act 2009 and his fate is still hanging in the balance.