KUANTAN: Barely 24 hours after arresting a district police chief on suspicion of graft, the Pahang Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) today picked up an Immigration Department enforcement officer.
An MACC source said the 37-year-old Immigration enforcement assistant officer had been allegedly soliciting and receiving bribes from entertainment outlet owners, massage parlours, orchard and sawmill owners within the district under his jurisdiction.
"The officer was detained this evening on suspicion of soliciting and receiving bribes amounting between RM300 and RM3,000 a month, and taking more than RM500,000 in bribes between 2018 and 2022.
"The bribes were to ensure the foreign workers hired at these premises will not be 'disturbed' by the Immigration Department as they did not have valid work permits," said the statement.
The source said investigations were being conducted under Section 17(a) of the MACC Act 2009 for receiving bribes.
Meanwhile,. Pahang MACC director Hairuzam Mohmad Amin@Hamim confirmed the arrest but declined to comment.
It remained unclear if the latest arrest was linked with the senior police officer who was nabbed yesterday.
Yesterday, the MACC detained a district police chief in the state for allegedly receiving bribes exceeding RM1 million.
He was probed for allegedly receiving more than RM1 million in bribes between 2017 and 2022 to "protect" unlicensed entertainment outlets and massage parlours in the respective district.
The money was to ensure these unlicensed entertainment outlets and massage parlours do not face any action from enforcement officers.
