BRUNEI DARUSSALAM

NEW AND EMERGING FORMS OF CORRUPTION AND THE
EFFECTIVE COUNTERMEASURES
Khairol Faizal Rizal Paijan *I. BACKGROUND
Integrity in public office is integral in ensuring the efficiency of the delivery of services inthe Government. In addressing the civil service, His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuanof Brunei Darussalam has emphasized that integrity is crucial to be practiced by civil servants.
He had mentioned in his 2010 New Year Royal Decree that “…Integrity should be thecornerstone of public services. Without it, any country can collapse, or at best lose its will(ability) to develop”. Corruption will not be tolerated in any form, and stern actions will betaken against civil servants involved in any corrupt practices.
Integrity is unquestionably a priority and an important principle that contributes to thesuccess in suppressing corruption. With a high standard of integrity in public office, theGovernment will maintain public trust and most importantly the trust of foreign investors.
Brunei is constantly working to diversify its economy and reduce its dependency on oil andgas. Foreign Direct Investment is seen as one of the strategic ways for that purpose; hence,maintaining corruption free governance is vital in attracting foreign investors.
II. NEW AND EMERGING FORMS OF CORRUPTION IN EACH
PARTICIPATING COUNTRY
A. Mechanisms for the Detection of New and Emerging Forms of Corruption*•The ACB works on two fronts when it comes to detecting corruption activities: reactiveand proactive detection.

•Reactive – Apart from receiving formal complaints via hotline or from those who lodge
reports at the ACB office, the ACB also receive referral letters from other Government
agencies informing of corrupt practices committed by third parties or members of thosedepartments.

•Proactive – On the proactive side, the ACB’s Special Intelligence Services Division(SPIN) have been working actively with our formal/informal sources in order to trackdown corrupt activities. The ACB is also working closely with intelligence agencies,
the Audit Department, FIU and other Law Enforcement Agencies, and this has been of
great assistance in further strengthening our network in our effort to combat corruption.

•

Technological Capabilities – Technological capabilities is one of the areas which theACB has been tapping into. Under SPIN, two units have been tasked on developing
technical capabilities, namely the Operational Research Unit (OPUS) and the Digital
Forensic and Technical Services Unit (DATA). Both units have a dedicated team toChief Special Investigator, Anti-Corruption Bureau, Brunei Darussalam.

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conduct research and development on developing tools for intelligence and surveillance
purposes. The forensic team meanwhile has the capability to examine and retrieve
valuable digital evidence that can be used for intelligence and investigation purposes.
B. Features and Trends of New and Emerging Forms of Corruption•

One of the common trends which has been investigated by the ACB in recent years isthe abuse of power by the people holding senior positions in the Government.

•The gratification received may not come in the form of cash and may not be transferred
directly to the public officer. The gratification may be transferred using a proxy or toan immediate family member in the form of employment, assets, property development,
shares and vehicles.

•In one of the cases that has been investigated by the ACB, a former surveyor-generalof the Surveyor Department, namely Haji Mohammed Jamil bin Haji Ali, had received
gratification in the form of six return plane tickets and bill payments for car servicing,mobile phone use and broadband Internet from one Puah Heng Yew of Selective
Powertech Consulting (SPC).

•The gratification was received following the awarding of a $9.5 million e-government
project to create National Spatial Data Infrastructure for which SPC was selected as theprimary contractor in 2007.

•Haji Mohammed Jamil was found guilty on four charges for corruptly accepting
gratification with a total value of $7,479.31. He was also found guilty of all 16 countsof offences under Section 165 of the Penal Code, which forbids public servants fromobtaining “valuable things” from a person connected to his official function. He wassentenced to four years’ imprisonment.

•Meanwhile, co-accused Puah Heng Yew also received a four-year sentence after being
found guilty of bribing the surveyor-general as an inducement or reward for varyingtender specifications for a Government spatial mapping project and submitting SPC’sprogress payment claims to the Ministry of Development between May 2007 andOctober 2008 in respect to the tender.

•Puah was also found guilty of all 16 charges of abetting Haji Mohammed Jamil incommitting the offences under Section 165 of the Penal Code by giving the said“valuable things” to Haji Mohammed Jamil.

C. Principal Causes or Backgrounds of New and Emerging Forms of Corruptiona) Greed and the lack of integrity. In the above case, Haji Mohammed Jamil has taken
advantage of his position being the project manager and abused his power.
b) Lack of supervision and monitoring from higher authority. During theimplementation, the project has encountered several problems such as delays indelivering hardware, disagreement between project members and the surveyor-general.
The Ministry of Development was also unaware of the changes made by Haji
Mohammed Jamil.
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BRUNEI DARUSSALAMc) Lack of due diligence during tender process. There was no prior checking on thecontractor’s portfolio and capabilities to take up a project of that size when the tenderassessment was made. In the end, the project was deemed unsalvageable after thecontractor failed to meet its one-year completion date even after being twice given
extensions when it fell behind schedule.
D. Prospects of the Future Evolution or Transformation of New and Emerging Formsof Corruption•

Continued evolution beyond traditional cash transactions to receiving in-kind or
through third party services via digital mediums.

III. BEST PRACTICES FOR TACKLING NEW AND EMERGING FORMS OF
CORRUPTION
A. Challenges and Obstacles Posed to Investigation, Prosecution and Adjudication•In the new and emerging forms of corruption, the perpetrators have used electronic
platforms to facilitate and cover their activities, such as social platforms for their modeof communication as well as the use of fintech such as cryptocurrency for transferring
gratification.

•Apart from that, corruptors have been using a “hawala” type of transaction to transfer
the proceeds of crime. Bribe money is paid by someone linked to the giver and received
by a proxy on behalf of the public officer. It would be even harder to detect if thetransaction is executed in a foreign country.

•

Some project/equipment needs an expert to understand the technical complexity of thematters to be investigated. The investigation team may not have personnel that has therelevant expertise and may end up searching for outsiders who can perform the task.

•Some of the witnesses or the subjects may be residing in other countries. Firstly,
locating the subjects or witnesses may take time and sometimes they could not be traced
at all. Secondly, for the witnesses, under Mutual Legal Assistance arrangements, somecannot be compelled to give evidence to the requesting party and their availability isdependent on their willingness to cooperate with the investigators.

B. Effective Methods for Investigation, Prosecution and Adjudication of New andEmerging Forms of Corruption, E.g. Detection of Criminals, Collection of Evidence•

In the context of investigation, the most effective method of detecting new andemerging forms of corruption is by strengthening intelligence capabilities as well as theintelligence network. Conducting continuous research with regard to the developmentof the new trend will also help in identifying the possible modus operandi and at which
process that corruption is likely going to happen.

•Traditional surveillance will no longer be effective to uncover corrupt activities. Newapproaches have to be made such as better penetration of electronic devices, media

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platforms and electronic access such as company records, call logs from service
providers and national registries.
•Another way to detect the activity of the people involved in corrupt activities is throughbank accounts and digital records. This can help intelligence officers assess thespending pattern and whether or not the target is living beyond means.

C. Future Recommendations•Information-sharing sessions between agencies involved in international investigations
on latest detection technologies, and making them available to other agencies, is verymuch required for investigations to close in on changing and modern modus operandi
of syndicates.

•Financial institutions also need to proactively and very quickly report on suspicioustransactions, as well as develop their own internal checks on any likely moneylaundering activities.

IV. INTERAGENCY COOPERATION AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
A. Cooperation among Domestic Agencies (FIU, Security, Taxation, Customs Etc.)•In our effort to combat corruption, the ACB has over the years been working closelywith various intelligence, law enforcement agencies as well as the Attorney General’sChambers. ACB is also a member of the Brunei National Anti-Money Laundering andCombating the Financing of Terrorism Committee (NAMLC) and is empowered as oneof the investigative bodies under the Criminal Asset Recovery Order, 2012.

B. International Cooperation (Joint Investigation and Other Forms of Cooperation)•Over the years, the ACB has been working closely with its Malaysian counterpart, theMalaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Singapore’s Corrupt Practices
Investigation Bureau (CPIB) and the Indonesian Corruption Eradication Commission(CEC) for matters pertaining to investigation such as locating persons of interest,repatriation and expatriation of subjects and proceeds of crime, recording of statements
as well as conducting joint investigation.

•Our cooperation is also extended to training, capacity-building, and legal andoperational coordination.

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