Questions have been raised recently as to why a police report was not made in respect of the alleged theft of US$6 million in cash by three Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers during the investigation of an ex-spy chief corruption case.
The act of switching the seized genuine US dollars into counterfeit US dollars, and thereafter pocketing of the former gives rise to a slew of potential offences under the Penal Code, including section 489A (counterfeiting bank notes), section 378 (theft), section 409 (criminal breach of trust by a public servant) and section 166 (public servant disobeying a direction of the law), to name just a few.
Is there a general legal duty under Malaysian law to report a crime?
The answer is in the affirmative. Section 13 of the Criminal Procedure Code provides inter alia that every person aware of the commission of any offence punishable under the Penal Code or any other written law SHALL in absence of reasonable excuse, immediately give information at the nearest police station of that offence. Further, section 202 of the Penal Code provides inter alia that if that person omits to given any information in respect of the offence (having had knowledge of it), he/she shall be punished with imprisonment or with a fine or both.
So, the burning question is this: Who in MACC had reasons to believe that a crime had taken place under its nose, and why was no police report made? Let’s hope the answers are forthcoming, especially when the crime is alleged to have been committed by the crime-busters themselves.
