Since 1st June 2020, MACC has introduce corporate liability provision for bribery and corruption under Section 17A.
The essential feature of Section 17A of the MACC Act is to criminalizes an organisation for corruption- related actions by associated persons done for the benefit of the organisation. Section 17A(1) states that a commercial organisation commits an offence if a person associated with it corruptly gives, offers or promises any gratification to any person with an intent to obtain or retain business or a business advantage for the said commercial organisation.
Since , the section is newly enforced, there is yet reported case on this section. However , on 18th March 2021, Chew Ben Ben (“Chew“), a former director of Pristine Offshore Sdn Bhd (“Pristine“), was charged under section 16(b)(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 (“MACC Act“).
In a first prosecution of its kind since the enactment of the corporate liability offence for corrupt practices, the corporate entity, Pristine, was also charged under Section 17A of the MACC Act. [1]
The charge is a wake-up call for commercial organisations that have yet to adopt sufficient measures to mitigate against the risk of corporate liability, and for management who have been wilfully blind to the commission of gratification by their colleagues.
Sources:
[1]https://www.skrine.com/insights/alerts/march-2021/first-corporate-liability-charge-under-section-17a?utm_source=Mondaq&utm_medium=syndication&utm_campaign=LinkedIn-integration