PETALING JAYA: A company manager is under investigation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for allegedly asking and receiving over RM840,000 as “protection money” from a factory owner.

       The 50-year-old suspect was arrested at about 5pm Monday (Nov 8) in Kuala Lumpur and has since been remanded for five days.

       According to a source, the suspect is believed to have demanded and received about RM840,000 in cash, between July and September.

       "The suspect supposedly would ask the enforcement agency not to take action against the factory owner as there was a foreign worker who had died due to Covid-19," the source told Sinar Harian on Tuesday (Nov 9).

       Apart from the RM840,000, the source said the suspect had also demanded an additional RM120,000 from the factory owner.

       The additional money was purportedly a payoff to the enforcement agency not to take action against the factory for hiring foreign workers without permits, the source added.

       Shah Alam magistrate court judge Mohamed Redza Azhar Rezali granted the MACC a five-day remand order against the manager beginning Tuesday (Nov 9) to Saturday (Nov 13).

       Meanwhile, when contacted, Selangor MACC director Datuk Alias Salim confirmed the arrest.

       He said the case is being investigated under Section 16(a) of the MACC Act 2009.