Bank CEO among 3 held on graft charges

Datuk Peter Lim Siong Eng, SDB CEO

KOTA KINABALU- A chief executive officer of Sabah Development Bank owned by the state government is under probe as graft busters begin investigations into multi-million ringgit bribes for loan approvals.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) arrested two officers of the financial institution and a former staff over the last 24 hours in their investigations into a syndicate apparently working as middlemen to help applicants obtain large loans from the bank.

It is learnt that a bank account with some RM2mil linked to the chief executive officer has also been frozen as investigators dig into various bank accounts including those held by proxies.

A luxury car and watch were also seized from the three suspects.

When contacted, Sabah MACC director Datuk Shaharom Nizam Abdul Manap confirmed the arrests.

According to sources, middlemen were used to allegedly take kickbacks for approval of loans that ran into millions of ringgit.

MACC officers expect more arrests in the near future.

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