A sprawling Bloomberg investigation spanning months of reporting, dozens of interviews and thousands of pages of documents has uncovered explosive allegations that Malaysia's Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, the MACC, the very agency tasked with policing corruption in the country, may itself be deeply compromised. What is being alleged is that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission is actually corrupt, a Bloomberg reporter stated. This is the agency that is supposed to police all the other agencies for corruption in Malaysia.
At the centre of the investigation is a group that has been dubbed the corporate mafia, led by a businessman named Victor Chin. In one lawsuit, executives called Chin the directing mind behind efforts to remove them from their company. Chin has been investigated by several Malaysian agencies for tax evasion, share manipulation and money laundering, but to date has not been charged in any court. Bloomberg reports that Chin prefers to operate through a network of associates.
The investigation uncovered an internal MACC memo from around 2020, written by officers in the agency's intelligence division, which laid out that chief commissioner Azza Baki and one of Chin's key associates, Andy Lim, were close friends. This relationship was described as well known within the MACC itself, establishing a direct link between the head of the anti-corruption agency and a person connected to the alleged corporate mafia.
A specialised unit within the MACC known as Section D, which handles cases involving listed companies, the stock market and insider trading, reportedly offered a range of services that extended well beyond legitimate law enforcement. These services allegedly included intimidation, raids, arrests and ultimately getting targets charged in court. One MACC official told Bloomberg that the price for these services could run to millions of ringgit, equivalent to hundreds of thousands of US dollars.
According to three people who spoke to Bloomberg, Section D was not operating as a rogue faction. Senior officials, including chief commissioner Azza Baki himself, were allegedly aware of its activities. Multiple individuals described to Bloomberg their experiences of being intimidated by the MACC, with officers banging tables, screaming at suspects and cutting people off from all outside contact during interrogations.
The MACC, like the emperor who has no clothes, thinks it looks good, but everybody can see the selective and discriminatory way they are managing, said one critic. The investigation raises fundamental questions about political will and governance in Malaysia, where the rhetoric of fighting corruption may mask a reality in which the tools of anti-corruption enforcement are themselves being weaponised for political and commercial purposes.
Bloomberg's reporting team conducted extensive on-the-ground investigation in Malaysia, but noted that many potential sources were too frightened to speak on the record. There is an immense fear that the MACC can just one day turn up at your doorstep and just make your life a living hell, one source told the reporters. The investigation represents one of the most detailed examinations yet of alleged corruption within the agency that is supposed to be Malaysia's last line of defence against it.