KANGAR: A senior officer with the state Islamic Religious Affairs Department (JAIPs) was among three men remanded over alleged corruption involving marriage registration in Perlis.
Magistrate Ana Rozana Mohd Nor granted the remand application when the 45-year-old officer and two other individuals, an imam of a local mosque and the latter's son, were presented to the court by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
According to an MACC source, the men aged between 25 and 52 were remanded to assist in investigations over an alleged RM1,183,140 corruption case involving marriage registration in Perlis between April 2022 and June last year.
The source said the main suspect was picked up at JAIPs office at 4.10pm yesterday while the father and son were detained at Perlis MACC office about 6pm yesterday after turning up to have their statements recorded.
"The main suspect is believed to have cooperated with the imam and the latter's son, who owns a consultant company managing marriage solemnisation in Perlis.
"Based on our initial investigation, couples who were married in Thailand and wished to register their marriage with the local authority will contact the company owned by the third suspect.
"The Kangar-based company would then ask for RM5,000 from the couple for marriage registration processing," he said when met at the Kangar Courts Complex today.
He added from the total RM5,000 paid to the company, RM2,000 was channeled to the JAIPs officer to pay a fine for entering marriage in Thailand.
"The remainder of the payment would be distributed among the three suspects through bank accounts belonging to the civil servant, the imam, and the company.
"The trio are being investigated for taking part in a marriage registration process that did not comply with the procedures, including a requirement that the couple who made the application must reside here over a stipulated period.
"Investigations also revealed that some couples were not even present (at the court) and their names were found on the marriage registration log. They also did not go through the Syariah Court," he said.
The source said MACC believed that the main suspect had netted more than RM1 million in his personal account from the dealings with the imam and his son, who allegedly made more money compared to the officer.
The case is being investigated under Section 17(a) of the MACC Act 2009. Perlis MACC director Mohd Nor Adha Ab Ghani confirmed the arrests.