Several titled people, including political leaders, were on the payrolls of gambling companies, and they used money from these firms to fund the recent six-state elections, reported Utusan Malaysia today.
The Malay daily, quoting sources, reported the money was used to fund the 2018 and 2022 general elections.
This was discovered by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) following the arrest of 13 people, including a “Tan Sri”, on Wednesday.
All of those arrested were aged between 30 and 79 years old and owned companies that supplied slot machines.
The report said the companies were granted licences to operate slot machines in private clubs and associations owned by gambling machine operators.
The sources also said the amount received by these personalities amounted to RM6 to RM7 million.
A source told the daily that in addition to political funding, the gambling companies were forced to sponsor various activities for VIPs and political leaders, such as golfing at luxury clubs.
The source also said MACC does not rule out the possibility these companies paid monthly fees to authorities to ensure their gambling operations were not disrupted.
“Several individuals with the titles of ‘Datuk Seri’ and ‘Datuk’ are under investigation and may be called in soon to assist in the investigation as some of them are currently overseas,” the source was quoted as saying.
The source said the government, through a ministry, had previously approved 159 gambling licences for these companies.
“Since 2003, the slot machine quota for each licence has been 15 units per premise in Peninsular Malaysia and 10 units in Sabah. Each slot machine unit must be registered and approved, and a 35% duty payment on each machine’s revenue is imposed on the government.
“Each slot machine licence must be renewed every three months for a club (company) and once a year for an association,” the source said.
However, the source revealed an additional slot machine quota of five units each for 132 out of 159 existing operators and associations in June last year.
“This addition has increased the number of slot machine units from 2,157 to 2,812,” the source said. – TMI