PUTRAJAYA (Jan 6): The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) detained a chief executive officer of a private company late on Thursday (Jan 5) night, on suspicion of being a middleman in the distribution of government projects under the economic stimulus package between 2020 and 2022.

A source from MACC said the 42-year-old man, who is believed to have accepted bribes to serve as the middleman in the projects involved, was arrested after having his statement recorded at the MACC headquarters here.

MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki confirmed the arrest when contacted on Friday (Jan 6), adding that the case was being investigated under Section 16 (a) of the MACC Act 2009.

The Putrajaya Magistrate's Court here allowed the man to be remanded from Friday until Jan 10, to allow the MACC to complete the investigation papers.

Last month, MACC issued a statement over the investigation that was focused on government funds amounting to RM92.5 billion under the economic stimulus and recovery initiative.

It said initial investigations revealed that the amount of allocation was estimated at RM530 billion, and based on that amount, only RM92.5 billion had involved government funds, while the rest was non-government funds.

A source from the MACC said that the investigation body has opened several investigation papers against at least five individuals who are believed to be middlemen of several companies in obtaining projects worth between RM50 million and RM500 million through direct negotiations.

“Contractors who have been questioned so far admitted that they agreed to pay a commission of 3% to 5%,” the source said.