Senior Navy officer ‘forced’ contractors to rent rooms at his hotel to house workers, MACC uncovers in graft probe

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 31 — MACC investigations have uncovered a senior Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) officer who owns two hotels and allegedly forced contractors to book accommodation at his properties.

The officer reportedly demanded that six to eight contractors rent rooms at his hotels to house their workers.

“The reason is the RMN contracts use external workers, so they need accommodation,” MACC chief Tan Sri Azam Baki said in the ‘Kolar Hitam’ podcast titled ‘Azam 2026: Making MACC Bold & Radical’ on MACC’s YouTube channel yesterday.

“They were forced to pay. So, now I ask: who should I accuse, the giver or the receiver?” he added.

“This receiver owns two hotels,” he added.

Azam also said that bribe-givers often live under pressure and fear their businesses could go bankrupt.

Under Op Layar, MACC has frozen 21 bank accounts and seized assets estimated at RM2 million linked to companies allegedly involved in bribery to favour the senior officer’s cronies.

The frozen accounts include seven company accounts and 14 personal accounts, with total funds of around RM700,000 so far.

The investigation has also seized the Navy officer’s two hotels, valued at about RM2 million, and MACC is tracing other assets and people who may have colluded with him.