KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11 — The absence of clear laws governing online crowdfunding has opened the door to widespread abuse of public donations, Malaysia’s top anti-graft official has warned, as authorities probe alleged misuse linked to high-profile fundraising campaigns.
According to the New Straits Times (NST), Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki said irresponsible actors were exploiting social media to solicit funds for religious or charitable causes, only for the money to be diverted for personal use.
“There are cases where people purportedly collect donations to build a mosque, but the money is instead given to their wives. This is very saddening,” he said.
Azam was responding to a Harian Metro report that three well-known non-governmental organisations are being investigated for allegedly amassing wealth through online crowdfunding.
“There are no laws for this (crowdfunding) at the moment. The issue involves collecting money through online payments and such,” Azam said, according to NST, describing the absence of a dedicated regulatory framework as a key constraint on enforcement.
He said social media platforms had made fundraising both easy and repeatable, with small individual contributions quickly accumulating into large sums.
“Most Malaysians only browse these three platforms. That is why fundraising happens there. When they see a post, they immediately chip in RM10 or RM20,” he said.
Beyond public-facing platforms, Azam added, donations were also being solicited through private messaging services.
“Besides social media, donations are also being collected via WhatsApp,” he said, adding that he himself had received messages asking for contributions.
While several organisations have already been analysed, Azam said the issue could not be addressed by enforcement alone.
“The relevant agencies should be looking into this to save the people’s money, rather than placing everything on my shoulders,” he said, calling for joint monitoring across multiple authorities.
He added that anyone seeking to raise funds from the public must first obtain approval, stressing that collections should only proceed once a regulator has granted the green light — a requirement he said underscored the need for clearer and more specific crowdfunding legislation to protect public trust.
