CURRENT SITUATION OF AND COUNTERMEASURESAGAINST TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME IN
RELATION TO CORRUPTION IN MALAYSIA
Sazali Bin Salbi*
I. INTRODUCTION
Corruption ha s e xisted ever since
antiquity as one of the worst and, at thesame time, most widespread forms ofbe hav iou r, wh ich is inim ical to th eadministration of public affairs.
Corruption can occur in various form.
K laus M . Leisinge r d ivide s f orm s ofcorruption into ‘petty’ corruption, gift and‘big’ corruption.
‘Petty’ corruption is defined as small
payment to get someone empowered totake and enforce decisions to see to it thatsomething he or she is duty bound to do isactually done within a reasonable periodof time. These payments are used as
stimulus or nothing would happen or it
ha ppens with so me d ela y. The word‘petty’ in petty corruption refers to boththe size of the financial transaction andthe size of the obligation the transaction
buys. In some societies, petty corruption
pervades almost every public service
institution like the police and customs
department.
Gifts are another type of corruption. In
m a n y s o c i e t i e s g i f t s , i n c l u d in g a n
invitation to dinner or other favors, areconsidered as something to respect which
will strengthen a friendly relationship.
Refusing them would be an offence. In
other societies, accepting gifts may beclose to corruption. The problem lies not
only in the intention behind offering the* Assistant Commissioner, Anti-Corruption Agency,
Malaysia

588

gift but in the value of the gifts
themselves. If their values are too high,they are likely to be ethically suspect.
The intention of the giver is also relevant.
If the gift is intended to motivate thereceiver to do or not to do a certain thing
within a period of time in the interest of
the giver, it will be a corrupt practice.
A more serious type of corruption is‘b ig’ corrupti on. One of t he usual
practices in this type of corruption isgetting ‘commission’. In many developing
countries, b ig construction schemes,p ur c ha se s o f a r m a m e nt s a n d o th er
equipment like telecommunications andcommercial planes, the tenders who won
the bids had to give commissions to thepeople in the authority concerned. Since
the commissions are high, they are one of
the major attractions for political leaders
and top ranking public officials who want
to increase rapidly their personal wealth.
In which ever way one defines
corruption, the effect toward one’s society
due to the practices of corruption are
devastating in the way it:
•
•
•
•
•
•

erodes the moral fabric of every
society;violates the social and economic
rights of the poor and the vulnerable;
undermines democracy;subverts the rule of law which is thebasis of every civilized society;retards development; and,denies societies, and particularly thepoor, the benefits of free and open
competition.

119TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSEPARTICIPANTS’ PAPERS
In view of the seriousness of the effectof corruption in all societies, delegates of
the 8th International Anti-Corruption
Conference held in Lima, Peru from 7–11
September 1997 adopted that:
•
•
•
•

•

•

•

fighting corruption is the business ofeveryone throughout every society
the fight involves the defence andstrengthening of the ethical values inall societies;
it is essential that coalition be formed
between government, civil society andthe private sector;
a willingness to enter such a coalition
is a true test of an individual
gove rnment’s commitm ent to theelimination of corruption;
the role of civil society is of special
im portance to overcome theresistance of those with stake in thestatus quo and to mobilize people
generally behind meaningful reforms;
there must be a sustained campaign
against corruption within the private
sector as, with greater privatizationand deregulation , it assu mes agreater role in activities traditionallyperformed by the state;that top leadership sets the tone in allsocieties, as “You clean a staircase bystarting at the top”.
II. ANTI-CORRUPTION AGENCY
MALAYSIA

A. Perspective
The Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA)
Malaysia is one of the agencies under thePrime Minister’s Department. It was
officially established on 1st October 1967.
The setting up of the ACA is closely
linked to the hopes and intentions of thegovernment to create an administration
which is clean, efficient and trustworthy.
In line with this aim, it is the role andresponsibility of the ACA to eradicate
corruption and the abuse of power.
B. Objective
The elimination of all forms ofcorruption and abuse of power prohibitedby Government regulations and the lawsof the country.
C. Vision
1. Toward the creation of a Malaysiansociety free from elements ofcorruption and based on highspiritual and moral values, led by aGovernment which is clean, efficientand trustworthy;
2. To make the ACA a professional,
world class agency dedicated to theeradication of corruption, guided byprinciples of justice, resoluteness andintegrity.
D. Mission
The eradication of corruption and theabuse of power in an integrated, ongoingmanner in which:
1. All agencies and major institutions of
the Government are fully involved in
the enforcement of the relevant laws
and regulation in a just and firm way
in order to ensure the sovereignty of
the law and to protect the national
and public interest;
2. All levels of leadership, political,
administrative, corporate, religious
and non-governmental agencies are
involved in the task of nurturing andin te r na liz in g t he h ig he s t m o ra lvalues until there is a consensus in
Malaysian society that corruption isabhorrent and must be wiped out.
E. Function
1. To
detectandascertainthecommission of corruption and theabuse of powers based on informationand complaints obta ined through

589

RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 59

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

590

accurate, comprehensive and efficient
covert and open investigations;
To procure and compile concrete andcomp rehensive evidence to provecommission of corruption, abuse of
power and disciplinary misconduct
through prom pt and e ffective
investigation;
To ensure that public interest andjustice are continually safeguarded
under the guidance of the relevant
national laws and regulations
through legal counsel and fair trial in
ca se s of co rrup tio n a nd a buse o f
power;To assist heads of public and private
sectors in handling disciplinary action
against officers who have violated
w ork regulations a nd the cod e ofethics based upon comprehensive
ACA reports;
To curb roots and opportunities forcorruption and abuse of powers due toapparent weakness in the system ofmanagem ent that have been
ascertained from ACA investigation
results and analytical reports;
To assist in ensuring that only
candidates who are not involved incorruption and abuse of powers are
confirmed ba sed on the ACA ’s
expeditious and accurate vetting of:(i) The promotion, optional retirement,
conferment of prestigious awards
and titles including filling-up
vacancies for important posts in the
public sector; and,(ii) The filling of important posts incertain institutions as well as
conferment of prestigious awards
and titles in the private sector;
To enhance participation and garnerundivided and continuous support
from leaders, influential groups andthe general public in efforts to counter
corruption as well as the abuse of
power;

8. To ensure that actions taken by the
ACA in intelligence gathering,
investiga tio ns and pre ventio n ofcorruption and abuse of powers are
executed with discipline through its
relationship and cooperation with
relevant agencies at the national andinternational levels;
9. To create values of excellence byenhancingexpertiseandprofessionalism and fostering thesp irit of solid arity a mongst AC A
officers th roug h dedicated anddynam ic leadership as well asplanned and system atic tra ining
programmes;
10. To enhance the leadership capability
an d departme ntal manage me nt
quality of ACA officers at all levels
through development programmes inhuman resources, informatio n
tec hn olo gy an d sy ste m atic wo rk
processes.
F. Strategy
The ACA has identified the following
three principal strategies to achieve its
stipulated Vision and Mission.
1. Reinforcement Strategy
To enhance the effectiveness of the
ACA, this strategy focuses on reinforcing
the professionalism of its officers as wellas enhancing co-operation with otherinternational anti-corruption law
enf orc em ent age ncies an d the m a ss
media.
2. Encouragement and Prevention
StrategyThis strategy emphasizes unwavering
efforts to inculcate noble value, prevent
corruption and improve the supervisionsystem when enforcing laws andregulations.

119TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSEPARTICIPANTS’ PAPERS
3. Enforcement Strategy
New laws to enhance the powers of the
ACA so that they will include aspects ofmandatory punishment, burden of proof
on the accused found in possession ofproperty in excess of known legal income,seizure of property where no satisfactory
explanation of its source is provided as
we ll as th e ab il it y t o d e p lo y a g e n t
provocateurs in its investigations. These
aspects seek to generate a deterrent effecton the offender.

III. CURRENT SITUATION OF
CORRUPTION IN MALAYSIA

2000 which are still in the process ofgathering and analysis.

To have a clearer current situation ofcorrup tion in M a la ysia , figures a ndstatistics for the year 1999 will be used inplace of figures and statistics for the year

A. Information
For the fiscal year 1999 ACA Malaysia
received a total of 7,829 complaints andre p o rts t hr ou gh v a r iou s so u rc es a s
indicated in Table 1.

Table 1
No.

Source of Information

Total

%

1

Anonymous letters

2674

34.16

2

Official letters from individuals

1963

25.07

3

ACA officers

1921

24.54

4

Personal visits

434

5.54

5

Telephone call

405

5.17

6

ACA aerogramme

114

1.46

7

Electronic media (homepages, e-mail, facsimile)

106

1.35

8

Letters from private companies

69

0.88

9

Letters from government department/statutory bodies

43

0.55

10

Police

42

0.54

11

Printing media

40

0.51

12

Letters from political parties

11

0.14

13

Official letters from government companies

4

0.05

14

Public Complaint Bureau

3

0.04

7829

100

Total
After being processed and assessed,
only 3,526 or 45.05% of the information
received contained elements of corruption
capable of open and covert investigations
while 2,205 or 28.16% contained only
general complaints in connection to theservices and administration of certain
departments or private companies. The

information was then referred to ther e s p e c t i v e d e p a r t m e n t s o r p r iv a t ecompanies for their internal action. No
action taken on the rest of the 2,098
complaints or 26.80% as they had nobasis for investigation.

591

RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 59
B. Investigation
In 1999, 413 Investigation Papers (IP),
157 Preliminary Inquiry Papers (PIP),
2,282 Intelligence/Surveillance Papers(SP) and Project Papers were opened in
respect of the 3,526 complaints. Other
action such as making secretobservations together with opened IPs/
PIPs/SPs were taken on the remaining
674 complaints.

From 413 complaints investigated in
1999, a total of 406 involved offences
under the Anti-Corruption Act 1997 while
the remaining 2 , 1 and 4 complaints
involved the Prevention of Corruption Act
1961, the Emergency (Essential Powers)
Ordinance No. 22 of 1970 and the Penal
C o de re sp e c tive ly. Ta ble 2 sh ow s astatistical breakdown of the total IP(s)opened by types of offence under the
relevant laws.

Table 2No.
1
2Type of Offence
Prevention of Corruption Act 1961
Sec. 4 (c)- using of claims containing false particulars.

1999
2Anti-Corruption Act 1997
Sec. 10 (a) (aa) - Offence of accepting benefits from members of the
public.
Sec. 10 (a) (bb) - Offence of accepting benefits on account of being apublic servant.
Sec. 10 (b) (aa) - Offence of giving benefits by members of the public.
Sec. 11 (a)- Offence of accepting benefits by an agent.
Sec. 11 (b)- Offence of giving benefits to an agent.
Sec. 11 (c)- Using claims containing false particulars.
Sec. 15 (1)- Offence of using office/position for benefit.
Sec. 29 (b)- Obstruction of inspection and search.

2
201
61
82
29
1

3

Emergency (Essential Power) Ordinance No. 22 of 1970
Sec. 2 (1)- Offence of using an office/position for benefit.

1

4Penal CodeSec. 165

1Sec. 193
Sec. 409- Public servant accepting an item of value without
consideration.
- Fabricating evidence in court.
- Criminal breach of trust by a public servant.
Total

C. Arrest
By the end of the year 1999, a total of
289 persons have been arrested, of which
21 were detained for offences under thePrevention of Corruption Act 1961, 241
for offences under the Anti-Corruption
Act 1997, 5 under the Ordinance No. 22/
70 and the remaining 22 for offences
under the Penal Code. The total amountof gratification gleaned from the arrests

592

23
7

2
1
413

was RM 39,063,674.54 while thec o m p a r is o n o f a r r e st s a cc o r d in g tocategories of person is shown in Table 3.

119TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSEPARTICIPANTS’ PAPERS
Table 3Comparison of Arrests According to Categories of person in the year 1999
No.

Category

Total

1Management & Professional182Support staff/group

136

3

Members of public/private sector

127

4

Politicians

2

From the figures and statistics above,it’s safe to say that the general public in
Malaysia is well aware of the existence of
ACA and it’s function as an agency whichis responsible to eradicate corruption andabuse of powers. This is clearly shown by
the amount of information received by
ACA, excluding information gathered by
ACA officers, totaling 5,908. Althoughm o r e t h a n h a l f o f t h e i n f o r m a t io n
received from the public does not containelements of corruption or abuse of power,
it does reflect the general obligation of
the public to fight, hand-in-hand with the
ACA, to eradicate corruption and abuse of
power in Malaysia.
The statistics from Table 2 show thatmost offences of corruption in Malaysia
are related to accepting of benefits by anagent. An ‘agent’, under Section 2 of theAnti-Corruption Act 1997 means:“any person employed by or acting
for another, and this includes anofficer of a public body or an officer
serving in or under any public body,a t ru s t e e, a n a d m i n i s t r a t o r o r
executor of the estate of a deceased
person, a sub-contractor, and aperson employed by or acting forsu c h t r us t e e, a d m i n i s t ra t o r o r
executor, or sub-contractor”,
As such it shows that most of the IP(s)open for investigation under the offenceof accepting benefits involve agents of acertain body, whether public or private

sector. Mostly the accepting of benefits
which are investigated under Section 11(a) of the Anti-Corruption Act 1997 isregarded as ‘stimulus’, as stated by Klaus
M. Leisinger, or inducement or reward for
doing or forbearing to do, or for having
done or forborne to do, any act in relation
to th e agen t’s prin cipal affair s orbusiness, or for showing or forbearing toshow favour or disfavour to any person in
relation to the agent’s principal affairs orbusiness.
The second most investigated offence
in relation to the Anti-Corruption Act
1997 for the year 1999 is in relation to
Section 11 (c) in which 82 IP(s) were
open. Section 11 (c) stated that:“any person knowingly gives to anagent, or if an agent knowingly useswith intent to deceive his principal,
an y receip t, accoun t or otherdocument in respect of which theprincipal is interested, and whichcontains any statement which isfalse or erroneous or defective in any
material particular, and which to
his knowledge is intended to mislead
the principal”.
Looking at the above given figures andstatistics, it is not wrong to say that thelarger portion of corruption offences that
occur in Malaysia are those that could be
categorized as ‘petty’ corruption. The actof corruption is done more on the basis of
one’s personal gains. Although many of593

RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 59
the offences are done by one person, it can
not be denied that there exists syndicatedor organized corruption. The nearest
example that could be put forward is theinvestigation in the year 2000 against
officers of the Forestry Department whichis said to receive large benefits fromill eg al log gers. Also t here was aninvestigation against officers of the Road
And Transport Department and driving
school instructors with regard to theissuing of driving licenses without theapp licant going through the norm al
driving test conducted by the department.
Whatever it is, petty or syndicated,
corruption in Malaysia is basically aninternal problem that has to be dealt withby all segments of society. In view of this,the government, public agencies, privates e c t o r s , n o n - g o ve r nm e n t a g e nc i e s ,political parties and the public have arole to play.
IV. COUNTERMEASURES AGAINSTCORRUPTION IN MALAYSIA
A. Anti-corruption Act, 1997
1. Efforts in combating corruption
started in the colonial days of theB r itis h ad m in istr a tio n w ith t hesetting up of a commission which is
responsible to investigate malpractices
in the public service sector. When
Malaysia achieved its independence,t he g o v e rn m e n t s e tu p t he A nt iCorruption Agency in 1967 which ise q uipp ed w ith the Pre ve ntio n ofCorru ption Ac t 1961 an d thep re scrib ed la ws a s i ts w ea pon i ncombating corruption.
2. Having considered the past trends
a nd current challenges, theMalaysian Government, has carriedout a comprehensive evaluation of thec ir c um s ta nc e s a nd s ym p to m s o f
c o r r u p t io n a n d i t s e f f e c t a t t h e594

national and international level. As aresult, a new Anti-Corruption Act has
been passed by the Parliament in1997 to combat corruption and related
cr im e s . I n t hi s ac t, s e ve r a l n e w
provisions to widen and enhance thescope of the Anti-Corruption Agency
and the Public Prosecutor’s functions
in areas of detection, enforcement andpunishment of corruption, abuse of
public position or powers and related
crime which are lacking under the oldPrevention of Corruption Act, 1961.
3. Among the important aspects of thisnew Act was the inclusion ofprovisions pertaining to the forfeitureof property and the explanation ofexcessive properties acquired or held.
The ACA 1997 doesn’t have a specificprovision which has a “money
laundering” word in it or specificallysp e lls ou t the of f e nc e o f “m on e ylaundering”. Nevertheless, Section 18
of the act provides a provision whichmakes it an offence for any person
whether within or outside of Malaysia
to be inv o lve d in a ny d e aling i n
relation to any property which is the
sub jec t m a tte r of the co rru ptio noffence.
4. As with any other legislation that
intends to penalize the criminals, theACA 1997 provides the Agency withseveral provisions which are to be
used for the purpose of “asset
trac ing”, s eizu re and f o rf e itur e.
Among the provisions of the ACA
1997 are as follows:

119TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSEPARTICIPANTS’ PAPERS(i)

Dealing in Property (Laundering)No
1

EffectOffence or
Non-Compliance(NC)

Besides the accused person, thisprovision also allows investigationand prosecution of any person who
assists or abets the accused.

Fine < RM50,000orJail < 7 years
or bothProvision
S. 18
Dealing inproperty(ii) Investigation Powers in Relation to“Asset Tracing”
Offence or
Non-Compliance
(NC)

No

Provision

Effect1

Officer’s Powers(Direct)
S. 22 (1)(b)Order to produce
documents.

Compel any person to produce
documents without having toconduct a search.

NC—S. 22 (10)and punishable by
S.58.
Fine < RM10,000
or Jail < 10 years
or both2

S.22 (8)Recording of
witness’statement

Witness shall not refuse or answer
questions which are incriminating.
Used as a source of information
pertaining to property acquired/
held, details of incomes/expenditure, network analysis, etc.
Statement to be admissible asevidenced
for
forfeitureofproperty.

S. 19—giving false
statement or amisleading one.
Fine < RM100,000orJail < 10 years
or both3

S. 23 (3)Search without
DPP’s Order

Search can be done immediately
and as such reduce the possibilitiesof documents or properties being
destroyed.

S. 29—obstruction
and punishable by
S. 58.
Fine < RM10,000orJail < 2 years
or both595

RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 59

NoProvision

4

S. 45 (3)Recording ofaccused’s
statement

5

Officer’s Powers(through DPP)
S. 23 (1)
Search with
DPP’s Order

Offence or
Non-Compliance(NC)

EffectCompel the accused to give his
defence or else if he holds backuntil in court, then he/she will beless likely to be believed by the
court.
Used as a source of information
pertaining to property acquired/
held, details of incomes/expenditure, network analysis etc.

Search done with aauthorization from DPP.

writtenS. 29—obstruction
and punishment
by S. 58.
Fine < RM10,000orJail < 2 years
or both6

S. 27 (1)
Solicitors todisclose
information by
High Court
order.

Overcome ‘privileged information’barrier in respect of dealing ofproperties under investigation.

NC—S. 27 andpunishable by S.
58
Fine < RM10,000orJail < 2 years
or both7

S. 31 (1)
Order allowing
investigation of
any bank
account.

Supersedebankingsecrecyprovision.
Banking documents are used to
trace movements of money and toascertain modus operandi.

NC—S. 31 (4)Fine < RM10,000orJail < 2 years
or both8

S. 32 (1)Notice fordeclaring assets
to the accused or
any person, andto the bank fordisclosure of any
account of theabove party.

An avenue for investigators tohave detailed information pertaining to any property owned/held
within or outside Malaysia.

NS—S. 32 (2)Mandatory Jail> = 14 days < 20years and fine< RM100,000

596

119TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSEPARTICIPANTS’ PAPERS

No

Provision

Effect9

S. 32 (3)Explanation on
excessiveproperties (onlyfor officer of apublic body)

The accused or any person to
furnish a detailed explanation on
how properties are owned/held.

Offence or
Non-Compliance(NC)
Failure to explain
satisfactorily.
Mandatory Jail >=14 days < 20 years
and fine >= 5times the value ofthe excess or
RM10,000
whichever higher.
NS—S. 32 (4)Mandatory Jail >=14 days < 20 years
and fine >= 5times the value ofthe excess or
RM10,000
whichever ishigher(iii) Seizure

No

Provision

1

Officer’s Powers(Direct)
S. 23 (1)Seizure ofmovableproperty (except
under bank’s
custody.

2

DPP’s Powers
S. 33 (1)Seizure ofmovableproperty underbank’s custody.

EffectOffence or
Non-Compliance(NC)

Allows property to be seized forfurther due course.

S. 29—obstruction
and punishable by
S. 58.
Fine < RM10,000
or Jail < 2 years or
bothAllows seizure/restraining order onbank accounts for further due
course.

NC—S. 33 (3)Fine < 2 times theamount paid out incontravention of
the order or
RM50,000
whichever ishigher andmandatory Jail < 2
years

597

RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 59

NoProvision

EffectOffence or
Non-Compliance(NC)

3

S. 34 (1)Seizure of
immovable
property.

Allows seizure/restraining order on
property for further due course.

NC—S. 33 (3)Fine < 2 times thevalue of theproperty or
RM50,000
whichever higher
and mandatory
Jail < 2 years

4

S. 35
Property outside
Malaysia (byHigh Court
order)

Prohibit any dealing on property
owned/held overseas.

NC—S. 57 andpunishable by S.
58. Fine <RM10,000 or Jail <2 years or both(iv) Forfeiture

No

Provision

Effect1

S. 36
Forfeiture uponprosecution(application to
High court)

Allow property to be forfeitedwhether the offence is proved or
not.

2

S. 37
Forfeiture
without
prosecution(application to
High Court)

Allow property to be forfeited
without prosecuting the accused(within 12 months of seizure).

Offence or
Non-Compliance(NC)(v) Evidence

No
1

598

Provision
S. 43
Evidence of
unexplained
wealthEffectAny evidence of unexplained
wealth shall corroborate any
evidence
relating
tothecommission of the offence underthe Act.

Offence or
Non-Compliance(NC)119TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSEPARTICIPANTS’ PAPERS

No

Provision

Effect2

S.44
Evidence of an
accomplice andagent
provocateur

Evidence of an accomplice andagent
provocateur
shallbeadmissible in court.

3

S. 46
Admissibility ofstatements anddocuments ofthe dead or
untraceable
personStatements or documents given bya person who died later or isuntraceable shall be admissible incourt.

Offence or
Non-Compliance(NC)

B. Integrity Management
Committees
To complement and in tandem with the
new legislative anti-corruption measure,the Prime Minister’s Directive No. 1 of1998, provides that the Special Cabinet
Committee On Management Integrity, be
entrusted with more functions and wider
scope of duties to oversee and monitor theactivities of similar Integrity
Management Committees (IMC) setup at
Ministerial, Federal Department, even atstate and district levels. This directive is
to consolidate a further integrity systemof administrative management of theGovernment of Malaysia to enable efforts
in combating corruption and malpractices
among civil servants to be enhanced byagencies of the Government of Malaysia
internally,
comprehensively,
systematically and continuously.

disciplinary referrals, corruption, abuseof powers and malpractices prohibited byregulation, laws and religion.”

The objective of the IMC is: “to create a
Government and Public Administrationthat is efficient, disciplined and imbued
w ith th e hi gh e st in te gr it y t hr o ug henhanced inculcation of moral values over
and above tackling p roblems andweakness particularly in the areas ofGovernm ent f ina ncia l m ana ge ment,p u b lic a d m in i st ra ti o n, h a n d l in g o f

By that Malaysia has responded to thecall of the international community byenacting the Anti-Money Laundering Act
2001 expeditiously. It is hoped that thelaw, with 119 serious offences including
drug trafficking, corruption, kidnapping,robbery, human trafficking, gambling
and fraud, will provide a strong
found a tion fo r M ala ysia ’s e ffo rts in

C. Anti-Money Laundering Act
As a member of Asia Pacific on Money
Launde ring Gro up (A PG ) since M ay
2000, Malaysia have seriously taken
steps to met the 40 Recommendations of
the Fina ncia l A ctio n T a sk F or ce on
Money Laundering (FAFT). Malaysia
have made a commitment to implement
legislation and other measures based on
the 40 FATF Recommendations. As such,
Malaysia, as a member APG, iscommitted in providing a regional focus
for co-operation against money
laundering, especially in theimplementation of the 40 FAFT
Recommendations in legal, financial andlaw enforcement sectors.

599

RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 59
countering money laundering. The Act
provides comprehensively for prevention,
detection, investigation and prosecutionof money laundering and forfeiture ofproperty derived from, or involved in,money laundering activities. In addition,
the law incorporates the requirement ofcustomer identification, record-keeping
and reporting of suspicious transactions
by reporting institutions. With the newlaw Malaysia has adopted the majority of
the FAFT’s 40 Recommendations.
V. CONCLUSION
The fight against corruption involves
the defence and strengthening of ethicalvalues in all societies. The lack or absenceof the element of a ccountab ility andresponsibility is a frightening symptom ofmoral decadence and the real threat ofincreasing economic crimes, corruption,
violence and crimes of all sorts in every
part of the world. Mankind, therefore,should seriously start looking beyond
codes of ethics, criminalized or otherwise.
No laws, regulations or codes of ethics, nomatter how good and comprehensive theya re, unless e ffectively enforced, canwholly eradicate crime, greed, corruption,
incompetence or sin. For this reason
again we have to fall back on religion andthat god is the source of correct principles
and that our conscience should be guided
by the divinely-inspired values, principles
ethics and norms.

600