JOHOR BARU, Jan 30 — A total of seven contractors were detained by the Johor Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for submitting false claims involving supply contracts to a state government agency more than a year ago.

The suspects — two women and five men — were detained at the Johor MACC office in Jalan Persiaran Tanjung at 4pm yesterday.

In a statement, MACC said the suspects, aged between 30 and 50, were owners of different companies.

"Investigations revealed that the suspects had submitted false documents relating to supply projects with the Johor Unity Department in 2017 which amounted to RM48,600 where the work was not carried out,” read the statement.

The statement said the anti-graft agency is investigating the case under Section 18 of the MACC Act 2009 on the false claim.

"If found guilty, they may face imprisonment of up to 20 years, could be fined not less than five times the value of the claim, or RM10,000, or whichever is higher.”

Johor MACC director Datuk Azmi Alias, when contacted, confirmed the arrest and added that five suspects have been remanded to assist in investigations.

Three suspects have been remanded for seven days, two others will be remanded for five days, while two others have been released on a RM5,000 bail each.