PUTRAJAYA (July 2): The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has released three staff of Projek Lintasan Kota Holdings Sdn Bhd (Prolintas) that it arrested last week in relation to the alleged bribery involving highway contracts worth RM1.67 billion.

The three were released on Tuesday morning following the expiry of their eight-day extended remand period. Arrested last Monday (June 24), they were initially remanded for four days till Friday (June 28), but the MACC sought a four-day extension for them.

Lawyer Farhan Read told The Edge that the trio were released at the Magistrate’s Court here after they each paid RM10,000 out of a bail of RM110,000. The balance RM100,000 each is an unsecured bond that is payable if they fail to check in at the MACC headquarters once a month.

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The trio are among nine people the MACC arrested last week, including the CEO of a concessionaire firm, in connection with the investigation. Farhan is representing Prolintas as well as the CEO, who was released on Monday after posting bail. The other five people are external contractors or step-in contractors, Farhan said.

Following the arrests, Prolintas issued a statement last Tuesday to say it was "aware that our personnel have been remanded by MACC to assist in an ongoing investigation relating to a construction case".

Prolintas operates several highways in the Klang Valley, including the Guthrie Corridor Expressway, Kemuning-Shah Alam Highway (LKSA), Ampang-Kuala Lumpur Elevated Highway (Akleh), Kajang Dispersal Link Expressway (SILK), Damansara-Shah Alam Elevated Expressway (DASH) and  Sungai Besi-Ulu Kelang Elevated Expressway (SUKE).

The MACC, meanwhile, has arrested two subcontractors - one a chairman and the other a director of a subcontractor company - in connection with the alleged bribery of one of the highway contracts, worth RM1 billion.

The chairman of the company, who carries a “Datuk” title, has been remanded until this Saturday (July 6), while the director will be in remand until Thursday (July 4). MACC's remand application for both men were granted by the Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.

According to sources, both suspects are aged between 40 and 50 years old.

“Both are suspected of giving bribes of up to RM200,000 to officials of statutory bodies in exchange for receiving project works for building highways which was done by another company prior to this. They are also suspected of giving bribes to a highway concessionaire for the same purpose,” the source added.

MACC Investigation Division senior director Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hashim, when contacted, confirmed the arrest and said the case is being investigated under Section 16 (a)(A) of the MACC Act 2009.  

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