PUTRAJAYA: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) foresees that there will be more reports on corruption in commercial organisations falling under Section 17A of the MACC Act 2009 (Amendment 2018).
Investigation director Datuk Norazlan Mohd Razali said more individuals are expected to be arrested and charged with the enforcement of the new provision.
"We believe there will be a number of cases on this offence in the future. We are expecting more to be charged after the implementation.
"Before the new provision was enforced, companies were given the sufficient time to instill the adequate measures and strengthened them in their organisation to prevent such offence to occur. Hence, corruption would no longer be a practice in Malaysia or in the international market," he said in an interview session with the members of the media on Section 17A of the MACC Act 2009 (Amendment 2018) at its headquarters here on July 15.
The new provision, which is also known as corporate liability, encourages business activities to be conducted with integrity and promotes good governance in organisations. It is not solely for the purpose of punishing commercial organisations.
The new section came into force on June 1. The enforcement was facilitated by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan through the Federal Government Gazette dated May 27, 2020.
Under this section, Norazlan said commercial organisations are liable and can be punished if their employees or officers are involved in bribery.
"Regardless of your position in the company, be it chief executive officer, director, comptroller or those who manage the company, you may be found liable too.
"Let's say, although that person was not involved (in the offence) but we find out that there are not enough measures or effective policies in the company, we will still charge the person. We will charge him as the representative of the company.
"If officers or employees of the company commit the offence, they will be charged under a different provision in the same act," he said.
Under Section 17A, the penalty is a fine of not less than 10 times the value of the bribe or RM1 million, whichever is higher, or imprisonment for up to 20 years, or both.
However, he said a company can defend itself if it implemented adequate measures to prevent corrupt activities in its business operation.
Asked if the penalties were sufficient to tackle corruption in the country, he said it is sufficient at the moment and should be increased in future.
He said although a company may have implemented adequate measures or effective policies, it does not mean it cannot be charged.
"An offence under this section is not retrospective. Investigations can be carried out only from June 1.
"Any offences committed by commercial organisations prior to this date will not be investigated and will not be taken to court," said Norazlan.