Does your company have anti-corruption measures in place?
The chief executive officer (CEO) of a telecommunications company in Malaysia has been remanded over allegations of bribery, according to reports.
Bernama reported on Tuesday that the 41-year-old CEO has been remanded by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) since Tuesday to assist in the investigation over the bribery case.
According to accusations, the CEO allegedly requested and received bribes worth more than MYR200,000 (over $45,300) from another organisation. The bribe served as an inducement so the CEO will award the organisation an engineering construction project and maintenance of a telecommunication tower.
The project and the maintenance contract were worth an estimated total of MYR50 million or more than $11.3 million, according to Bernama.
Magistrate Mohaman Redza Azhar Rezali has issued the remand order under Section 16(a) (A) of the Malaysia Anti-Corruption COmmisssion Act 2009.
Bernama reported that the CEO was already detained at the Selangor MACC office after giving his statement. His remand order will last until Friday, according to the report.
Read more: How to get your employees to report misconduct
Preventing corruption in the workplace
The incident with the CEO came just after the Malaysian Special Cabinet Committee on Anti-Corruption announced that the Integrity and Anti-Corruption Course will be compulsory in all higher learning institutions starting next year.
MACC deputy chief commissioner Norazlan Mohd Razali said this is because authorities are concerned about the working youth who are already tempted by bribery, Free Malaysia Today reported.
"This course will also provide exposure to students, so they do not ask for or give bribes to anyone," he said as quoted by the media outlet.
A spokesperson from the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) in Singapore also stressed that HR has a role to play in preventing corruption in the workplace.
The spokesperson told HRD in a previous interview that HR should "establish mechanisms" that would allow employees to report potentially corrupt behaviour in the workplace.
"HR could establish mechanisms… like a whistle-blowing or internal audit channel which will underscore the management's strong stand of reporting corrupt offenders to the authorities," he said.
In addition, training and development programmes may also help HR in anti-corruption efforts, where employees can learn what constitutes corruption and what areas are susceptible to corruption.
