KUALA LUMPUR: The son of a political leader is said to be on the radar of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) as the anti-graft agency widens its investigations concerning the Jana Wibawa programme.
A source revealed that the arrest of a man known as "Datuk Roy" who is believed to be the mastermind to settle MACC's investigation or cases related to Jana Wibawa, disclosed that the politician's son, who is a businessman, was also being investigated.
According to the source, the businessman's name was "leaked" after "Datuk Roy" had obtained a list of names linked to the Jana Wibawa programme from a contact within the MACC, said to be a senior officer.
"Datuk Roy contacted those whose names were on the list, offering to help them avoid action being taken against them, for a hefty fee in return," the source revealed to local news portal Free Malaysia Today (FMT).
Datuk Roy is believed to have received an amount of money from someone close to the politician to help the son avoid being detained.
The source also described "Datuk Roy" as someone who is an opportunist who kept an eye out for 'victims' among MACC suspects.
"He sees an opportunity, a means to make money from those who are being investigated in high profile cases," said the source.
On March 9, MACC detained four individuals including an MACC officer after a report was lodged by family members of the political leader.
The Jana Wibawa Programme was introduced back in November 2020 by the government at the time which was led by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as a stimulus initiative to help bumiputera contractors.
Muhyiddin, who is Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman and Bersatu (PPBM) president, has since been charged with abuse of power and money laundering in relation to the project.
Last month, two other members of Bersatu were also charged with accepting bribes in connection with the Jana Wibawa programme, namely Tasek Gelugor MP Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan and Segambut Bersatu deputy chief Adam Radlan Adam Muhammad.
Datuk Roy was detained by MACC yesterday and is expected to be taken to the magistrate's court here this morning for a remand order.
He was detained at around 3pm yesterday while giving his statement at the MACC's headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.
Kuala Lumpur MACC director, Razliah Ab Rahman confirmed the arrest and said the case was being investigated under Section 16(a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009.