INTELLIGENCE-BASED INVESTIGATION: EFFECTIVE PRACTICESTO COMBAT CORRUPTION
Dato’ Sri Ahmad Khusairi Bin Yahaya＊

I. INTRODUCTION
Corruption is an act that destroys the integrity of individuals, communities and nations. It is a practicethat is so detrimental to a nationʼs economy and good governance that it will also undermine the publicʼsbelief in law enforcement agencies. To quote the 1 Royal Address of His Majesty Sultan of Perak, Sultan
Nazrin Shah in conjunction with the 47th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Anti Corruption Agency
Malaysia, His Majesty has labeled corruption as:
Corruption : among the main reason that inhibits economic growth, eliminates the interest of foreign
investments, increases administrative and transaction costs, denies the people from receiving services
and prompts political instability. A lot of nations are blessed with numerous sources of wealth, but
corruption lands them instead in regression - some are even buried so deep in poverty. The nation’s
wealth is mismanaged - internal revenues disappear, consequently regression persists and poverty
continues to spread. When the is no determination to fight corruption, it shall grow thrivingly, thenaccepted as a norm and eventually permeates into a culture until it destroys the nation state.
In a statement by Mr. Jose Ugaz, Chair of Transparency International:
It is perceived as a very complex phenomenon that affects a large part of humanity. If we look at theworld map painted in red according to the latest Corruption Perception Index (measurement done every
year covering most countries), corruption severely impacts more than two thirds of the planet2.
The landscape of corruption crimes around the world has evolved with time. Corruption is no longer
concentrated on spontaneous acts, but is now more submersed in organised, conspiratory and covert crimes.
The worldʼs development has taken a step towards globalization, accompanied by economic growth andinformation technology advancement, and corruption is going through an evolution phase where petty
corruption has begun to shift into more structured and organised crime that is more complex and covert.
This trend is a phenomenon known as syndicated corruption. It doesnʼt only involve government sectors; if
syndicated, the involvement of the private sector will also create a major impact in the evolution of methods
in corruption.
Although petty corruption is an occurrence that happens on a smaller scale and is different fromsyndicated corruption, if not contained it could become a culture within a community or organization. Failure
to control these activities will create a profound impact on society.

II. WHY IBIWhen discussing the corruption issues in Malaysia, where before an act of corruption is considered petty
corruption involving two individuals with interest, whether the giver or receiver, both of whom are seeking
to benefit. However, it is undeniable that since Malaysiaʼs independence in 1957 until today, through thecountryʼs rapid growth and development, corruption has also seen its evolution; it has become more
Director, Intelligence Division, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.
Royal Address by His Majesty Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah in conjuction with the 47th anniversary ofBPR/MACC on 1st October 2014
2
Official Interview with Mr. Jose Ugaz, Chair of Tranparency International by Fernando González Barroso, published in thefirst digital edition of the “International Journal of Transparency and Integrity” - August 2016＊1166

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structured, organized and covert, thus allowing this crime to become more difficult to track and expose.
To ensure the continued efforts in combating corruption in Malaysia, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption
Commission has also undergone its evolution to stay relevant with current times. Previously known as theNational Bureau of Investigation (BSN), then the Anti Corruption Agency (BPR), the Malaysian AntiCorruption Commission (MACC) has since 2009 strived to contain the crimes of corruption that have takenroot as a culture in Malaysian society. Various efforts were undertaken through punitive measures as well as
conducting education and prevention programmes to help curb the spread of this phenomenon.
In Malaysia, the public tendency to expose crimes of corruption is focused more on information disclosure
as opposed to stepping forward to report a complaint to MACC. This notable difference is not due to lack ofconfidence in MACC, but is on account of various factors; the refusal in involvement as a witness in court, thechange of corrupt crime from petty corruption to syndicated corruption; technological advancement andaccessible information delivery mediums; and latest trends show that criminals of corruption are getting
more adept at conducting said crimes without public knowledge and remains undetected by MACC.
Based on these developments, employing regular or reactive investigation methods becomes less effectivein order to prove cases that involve syndicated and high profile crimes. This is due to obstacles that aredifficult to penetrate, namely witness cooperation and the significant decrease in public complaints to MACC.
Apart from that, the community also prefers to offer information compared to filing a complaint to avoid
testifying in court.

Between 2012 and 2016, statistics show that MACC typically receives an average of 6,000-7,000 reports ofinformation yearly. It causes MACC to become more selective in producing quality information thatconsequently leads to case development that utilises proactive investigation methods through theIntelligence-Based Investigation (IBI) approach. The efforts and actions planned by MACC are not solely
focused on solving crimes of corruption, but also taking into account the aspects of time, cost and manpower
as well as suitable investigation methods, to yield a more effective and successful investigation. Therefore,
MACC isnʼt just focusing on more holistic punitive efforts, but at the same time the IBI approach is able toassist MACC in identifying various genres of corruption crimes that were previously difficult to unravel.

III. WHAT IS IBI?
Intelligence-Based Investigation (IBI) is an art, an investigation approach that puts emphasis on
exploration, manipulation and exploitation of intelligence ability to commence and facilitate investigations
that work within a process. To yield covert output through techniques of undercover, surveillance,intelligence analysis, deployment of agent and sources, technical equipment and others, are basic components
used in the IBI approach to unravel syndicated cases that are complex and involve middleman.
The application of the IBI approach is parallel with the current trend of corruption mediums. Corruption
nowadays is deemed sophisticated. Where before, transactions were often in cash, now it involves banking
transactions, involvement of a third-party in a transaction, provisions of reward in the form of entertainment
and luxury, or even the acquisition of cooperation in the countryʼs mega projects.
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In order to improve IBI to become a more successful and structured approach, MACC has tried toencourage the utilisation of this approach through the MACC Transformation Plan that began in 2011.
During this process, three items were given priority, namely the law and SOP, proficiency of Undercover
Officers and profiling analysis capability. Although the first time the IBI approach was applied during anUndercover Operation ʻOperation Melayangʼ in 2000, for the past decade MACC has strived to explore and try
its best to use the IBI approach as an alternative in its punitive actions. This is in line with therecommendations outlined in 3Article 50, United Nations Convention Against Corruption:
1. In order to combat corruption effectively, each State Party shall, to the extent permitted by the basic
principles of its domestic legal system and in accordance with the conditions prescribed by its domestic
law, take such measures as may be necessary, within its means, to allow for the appropriate use by its
competent authorities of controlled delivery and, where it deems appropriate, other special investigativetechniques, such as electronic or other forms of surveillance and undercover operations, within its
territory, and to allow for the admissibility in court of evidence derived therefrom.
Through the MACCʼs Transformation Plans 2011 - 2015, among the first effort that was implemented is toimprove the operational ability of Undercover Operations. This process doesnʼ t focuse solely on thedevelopment of training modules, but efforts in other aspects have been undertaken, such as thestrengthening of human resource capabilities, establishing more organised operation management
procedures and acquiring of technical equipment that are more modern and appropriate.
The second aspect that was given priority during the transformation and enhancement of the IBI
approach is to improve Profiling Analysis capabilities. Expertise in profiling is the most important scope in
the IBI approach as it is an important contributing data in identifying criminal networks, criminal
involvement as well as providing input for proactive operation actions. Profiling analysis of targets in general
is to be done comprehensively, due to the fact that most corruption criminals are creative in not acquiring
bribery directly in person, but instead employ family members or proxies. Therefore, aside from individuals
and companies/ agencies/ institutions/ clubs/ organisations that are involved directly or indirectly with thecase, it is of utmost importance to develop a comprehensive profiling of a target, his/her family members,
spouse/partnerʼs family members as well as their spouse/partner. The next challenge is to analyse all thegathered data in order to produce the caseʼs hypothesis. These processes can only be accomplished byenhancing and diversifying the cooperation of information sharing between agencies, creating a system
database platform that is able to store and process information data, and empowering intelligence officers
with a suitable data analysis and profiling knowledge.
The MACC transformation program emphasises aspects of procedures and implementation of each
initiative that was created. The third aspect that was given emphasis is the upgrading of work
implementation procedures that have since became the backbone of the IBI approach. Overall, several
standing orders were established through the jurisdiction under Section 12 of the Malaysian Anti Corruption
Act 2009. Among those are;3/

Chief Commissioner Standing Order (Chapter F) No. 1 Year 2013 “Telecommunication Interception
Using Lawful Interception Monitoring System (LIMS) Under The Jurisdiction of Section 43 of The
Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission Act”;/

Order of Deputy Chief Commissioner (Operation) No. 4 Year 2013 “Preparation of Quality
Information”;/

Order of Deputy Chief Commissioner (Operation) No. 5 Year 2013 “Sources ManagementProcedures”;/Order of Deputy Chief Commissioner (Operation) No. 7 Year 2013 “Central Intelligence Operationand Safe House Management Procedures”; andPage 41, Article 50, United Nations Convention Against Corruption, 2004

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Guidelines”.

IV. DECISION MAKING & MONITORING
The implementation of the IBI approach is managed on a case-to-case basis, whereby each implementation
focuses on the issue of gathered information and is therefore different from information issue to the other.
Details of information issue and situation that should utilise the IBI approach are as follows:/ Cases of corruption, abuse of power or pre-determined offenses against a certain individual or
network of individual categorised as syndicate including the involvement of a middleman that are
difficult to execute through reactive (regular) investigation approaches;/ Cases where there is no complainant who will step forward to file a complaint to MACC;/ When there is an informer or internal source that could cooperate to make the operation a success;or/ Analysis is made of failed cases that using reactive investigations : where offenses under the MACC
Act 2009 are on-going and must be approached using IBI.
Although cases that are developed through the IBI approach may seem different, the process used is still
the same, and intelligence acts throughout the process are divided into two important phases which areIntelligence Gathering (IG) and Evidence Gathering (EG).
Overall, both phases are monitored by the same executive powers namely the Chief Commissioner (CC) or
the Deputy Chief Commissioner (Operations) (DCCO) who are authorised to grant execution permission.
However, during the pre-project stage, the Department/State Director is responsible for monitoring. Also,
reports of projectʼs progress shall be monitored from time to time throughout the duration of the project. Thefollowing is the command hierarchy of project monitoring based on phase:Intelligence Gathering Phase
Director Dept./State↓
Deputy Director↓
Head of Operation

Evidence Gathering Phase
CC/DCCO↓Director Dept./State↓
Deputy Director↓
Head of Operation

Each project must refer to the Director Department/State in order to understand the methods andimplementation procedures of a project. Based on the details of information that should be developed as an
IBI project, the Head of Operation should first and foremost prepare a Project Planning Paperwork (PPP)
based on gathered information. The PPP will then be presented to the Project Committee (PC)4 for
implementation approval and project allocation. During this stage is where a projectʼs suitability andfeasibility is determined. Below are the main officers involved in a monitoring and decision making process;/CC/DCCO- Consideration and approval of PPP,
- Decision to delay or terminate any operation subject to reason and demand, and- Decision to authorise implementation of investigating operation after the EG process is finished andProject Committee (PC): The committee that convenes to review, consider and approve any Operation based on thepresented Project Planning Paperwork by the Head of Operation. The PC consists of Chief Commissioner/Deputy ChiefCommissioner (Operation) as Chairman, as well as 3 other members namely the Director of Intelligence, Director ofInvestigation and Deputy Director of Intelligence.
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has reached necessity.
/Director or Deputy Director Department/State- Consider and decide any necessary actions prior to and during the implementation of the operation,- To advise DCCO on decisions pertaining to any delay, termination of operation and authorisation ofEG implementation, and- Monitor implementation of operation that is being conducted by each department/state and to receive
periodical reports from the Head of Operation.

/Head of Operation- To present PPP to PC- To guide and advise the Case Officer in handling and steering a project, and- To monitor implementation of every operation conducted by each department/state and to report onsupervised operation progress to the Director.

Based on the roles mentioned above, the most crucial task is placed upon the Project Committee (PC),where based upon the Intelligence Report (IR) that is generated following each Intelligence Gathering (IG)process, the PC will have to decide on which method will be adapted to pursue an operation, whether theyʼllbe adapting the Undercover Method or the Analysis Method. These decisions are crucial and must be based
upon a specific benchmark when selecting a method;/Risk level of an operation and estimation of damage to the operation team, target or any possibility ofcollateral damage;/

Effectiveness of operational cost implemented compared to the ROI;/

Possibilities that need to be expected in deciding the feasibility of an infiltration or penetration during theoperation; and/The strengths and weaknesses of the case development to help decide if it can be pursued or not.

V. IMPORTANT TOOLS IN THE IBI PROCESS
Undoubtedly, when defining the IBI approach, naturally the process that is applied can be described in one
big Intelligence Cycle, especially during the Pre-Project Phase (Intelligence Gathering -IG) and Project
Implementation Phase (Evidence Gathering -EG). And while explaining aspects of Intelligence Cycle, thefollowing are several important tools that are used throughout the IBI process:/Informant
In the introduction section, it has been explained that an informant is an individual who plays a crucialrole in providing information covertly for the purpose of intelligence. Although at times the information
given might not be competent; however, each information has its own weight that must be taken intoaccount.

/Profiling
In the IBI approach, profiling is the most important responsibility as it is with this that a target or anyother individual or organisation involved in the case can be identified thoroughly. In the context of IBI,
offensive profiling is adapted, which means the identity of the target is not the only profiling but should
also include all aspects of information pertaining their financials, assets and properties, movements inand out of the country, business ownerships, stock and share ownerships, etc. This aspect also applies
when profiling any individuals or organisation involved with the target.

/Reconnaisance
Reconnaisance or Recon is a method used by most intelligence agencies around the world, where agentsare scattered to assist in the information verification process. In the IBI approach, MACC adopts thesame method where intelligence officers are responsible, not only for verification purposes, but also togather new information related to the case using the elicitation technique.

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Is a combination of tasks: to assess the suitability of an undercover operation area and meeting place, togather information needed relevant to the area to facilitate infiltration, and to evaluate probabilities ofchallenges and threats especially in operations that utilise the undercover method.

/Surveillance
Derived from the words ʻwatching overʼ in French ‘surveiller’, the task of surveillance is the monitoringof activities of a target, their behaviors and collecting other useful and relevant information on the target.

/Interception
In the context of MACC, communication interception is an important element in assisting thedevelopment of an operation using the IBI approach, specifically employed to extract and gather
information through the targetʼs communications with any individuals relevant to the case. By adapting
the Lawful Interception Monitoring System (LIMS) under the jurisdiction of Section 43 of the MalaysianAnti Corruption Act, all conversation data, messages whether by post will be analysed to assist in theinformation analysis and verification of a case.

/Undercover Work
Like any intelligence agency around the world, the usage of undercover agents is a certifiable technique
in information gathering and verification. However, in the context of IBI, undercover agents are not only
employed during the intelligence gathering process through information assessment and verification, butare also useful in gathering evidence. The undercover evidence can be used to bring a case to court
based on Section 52 of the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commision Act:Section 52 (1) (b) MACC Act 2009: “No agent provocateur, whether he is an officer of theCommission or not, shall be presumed to be unworthy of credit by reason only of his having attempt tocommit, or to abet, having abetted or having been engaged in a criminal conspiracy to commit, suchoffence if the main purpose of such attempt, abetment or engagement was to secure evidence against
such person; and”Section 52 (1)(c) MACC Act 2009: “Any statement, whether oral or written, made to an agent
provocateur by such person shall be admissible as evidence at his trial.”
Section 52 (2) MACC Act 2009: “Notwithstanding any written law or rule of law to the contrary, aconviction for an offence under this Act solely on the uncorroborated evidence of any accomplice oragent provocateur shall not be illegal and no such conviction shall be set aside merely because the court
which tried the case has failed to refer in the grounds of its judgement to the need to warn itself against
the danger of convicting on such evidence.”

However, in the IBI approach that employs undercover methods, although the human undercoverstatements could be used as evidence in court, it could be a liability on MACC to ensure that there are noelements of entrapment and instigation from the targetʼs operation handler, and a predisposition of the target
should be done with the utmost care in relation to prejudiced information of the target.

VI. THE IMPORTANCE OF INTELLIGENCE ANALYSIS
Analysis is defined differently according to each knowledge field and skills context. In general, analysis isdefined as a process that breaks down and rearranges a particular component to one that is comprehensible
and generates a hypothesis of a particular matter. Itʼs no different when applying analysis in the IBI
approach, where a hypothesis of information and gathered data is of utmost importance, and this discipline is
known as Intelligence Analysis. In the IBI approach, the Intelligence Gathering (IG) is not only focused on theability to gather data and information relating to the case, but it also involves important processes in order tointerpret all the data and information via an analysis that is appropriate to generate an overall hypothesis ofthe intelligence process. Among the importance of Intelligence Gathering and Intelligence Analysis are:/ Manage to evaluate progress or status of intelligence work,

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RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 107/ Discover past events and things you didnʼt know,/ Understand the situation of the cases more deeply,/ Assist in identifying follow-up actions that should be taken, and/ Facilitate all teams to communicate accordingly and create better understanding.
In the IBI approach, there are several analyses such as the Target Profile Analysis, Crime PatternAnalysis, Risk Analysis, Network Analysis and Demographic Analysis. Although there are various analysis
methods to be employed, it depends on the type of case, the suitability of data categories and information thatwere gathered. What matters is that the process of the analysis is to ensure that the case being developed
involves the right target, the right modus operandi and the relevant individuals involved in the case.

VII. CONCLUSION
The wide use and application of IBI methods in corruption cases domestically and internationally wasconsidered as a good practice and initiative and caught the eyes of other anti-corruption authorities includinginternational bodies like United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). MACC has also received
requests from many countries to learn the IBI approach. It is an honour to us (MACC) that we have alreadyreceived almost 150 participants from various agencies and countries from 2012 until July 2018 who came tolearn IBI. For MACC sincerely, it would be part of our duty to share and exchange ideas and good practices
with other agencies or departments, locally or internationally, as part of our efforts to fight corruption
globally. Let us work together to combat corruption and strive to maintain the harmony of the worldcommunity.
References:
1. Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission website: www.sprm.gov.my
2. United Nations Convention Against Convention (UNCAC) 2004
3. Malaysian Anti-Corruption Act 2009
4. Transparency International website: www.transparency.org

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