SHAH ALAM - The existence of cartels in the police force may exist if high-ranking officers compromise with corrupt parties.
Former Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Musa Hassan said the corrupt parties would usually send middlemen to conduct the dirty business.
"He will approach whoever is willing to negotiate, if we do not give them any attention the issues wouldn't exist and vice versa," he said at the Rasuah Busters Compass Program titled 'Corruption Punishment Is Still Light' aired on the Sinar Harian platform on Wednesday.
The program also featured panellists Malaysia Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) President Datuk Seri Akhbar Satar and Malaysian Muslim Lawyers Association (PPMM) Exco Hariz Yusoff while Zaim Zaini acted as a moderator.
Musa said if the high-ranking officials compromise with bribers, they would influence others and cartels would exist.
"There are no cartels in civil servants because the cartels would be outside however, if a compromise happens following the desires of the syndicates outside would mean cartels can exist anywhere these officers are without having any actions taken towards them," he said.
He said regarding the punishment of civil servants receiving bribes, he suggested having a punishment that could bring embarrassment for the offenders.
"Implement punishments that would embarrass offenders in corruption cases, implement caning, by going through public caning they would be less inclined to accept bribes," he said.
He said other than caning, the punishment of the offender's property could be seized if they are found guilty of receiving bribes.
"Usually these enforcers are exposed to various temptations. For example, if he (the enforcer) wants money, he can get money, if he likes entertainment he can be given entertainment or if he is a womaniser then he can get women," he said.
Musa stated while he was the IGP, he was determined to eradicate corruption in the team by introducing the use of the 'I am anti-corruption' badge before changing the slogan to 'integrity of our practice' that remained until now.