KUALA LUMPUR: Only one civil servant has been sacked from service so far, following the Auditor-General's 2012 Report which implicated 175 government officers in 121 cases of financial wrongdoing.
"A total of 85 officers were found guilty after disciplinary proceedings were initiated, and of that number, one officer was sacked," Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Ali Hamsa said today.
The rest, who were found guilty, were either fined or slapped with warnings that saw their promotions and increments frozen for a year or more.
Commenting on the AG's recommendation for 111 types of punitive action to be taken against the 175 government officers for financial wrongdoings like graft, misuse of power and other misdemeanors such as negligence while on duty, Ali Hamsa said:
- only 85 were found guilty;
- 23 were declared innocent; and
- 67 are in the midst of disciplinary and surcharge proceedings, or facing court action.
Speaking to newsmen at a Session With The Media on The Auditor-General's Report 2013 Series 3 at Angkasapuri here, he said the number of officers involved in wrongdoing is very small compared to the total number of government officers.
"I wouldn't even say they make up the 'tip of the iceberg', as the numbers are smaller than that," Ali Hamsa said as he defended the civil service against allegations of graft.
He said the action taken by the government proves that it is serious in weeding out corruption and financial wrongdoings.
"Malaysia is the only country that presents the AG's report and holds a town hall session with the media on it. This is how transparent and open we are trying to be," he added.
From a total of 80 punitive actions recommended in the AG's 2013 Report (Series 1 and 2), disciplinary and surcharge (reimbursing the government) proceedings will commence on 19 recommendations involving 48 officers.
"(We found) that there was no solid basis for action to be taken on 55 recommendations as they did not involve irregularities but happened due to weaknesses in the system, procedures and current regulations," Ali Hamsa said, adding that six others are still in the investigation process.
The secretaries-general of all ministries and directors-general of all departments were present at the session with the media.
Meanwhile, it was revealed that the Finance Ministry has received permission from the Attorney-General's Chambers to take action against an officer from the Accountant-General's Department who embezzled RM995,031.41 of unclaimed money in 2011.
The ministry's deputy secretary-general Datuk Mat Nor Nawi, said the "green light" from the AG was received on Sept 18.
"We could not take action before this because the case was still under investigation. It would not be fair to take disciplinary action against the officer involved then.
"The AG said there was no need to wait for the police (to complete investigations), and that the ministry may take disciplinary action simultaneously, so this morning, the Accountant-General's Department decided to act," he said when replying to a question during the media session.
The Auditor-General's report tabled on Monday stated that the loss of the money was detected on March 3 and 10, 2011, leading to reports being lodged with the police and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.
Last updated on 13 November 2014 - 04:29am
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