DECEMBER 19 — Corruption, they say, is as old as prostitution. While many people will very quickly say that prostitution is immoral, not so many realise that corruption is not only immoral but can have a cruel effect on a vast number of people.

Corruption is generally understood to mean a form of dishonest conduct by those with power and authority to enrich themselves or to acquire personal benefits because of their authoritative position. It is basically the abuse of an entrusted power for personal gain. Examples of corrupt practices may include bribery and abuse of power or authority for personal gain. 

Two of the major cruel effects of corruption are inflation and misallocation of resources. Corruption often leads to the  price of government  projects being inflated. The extra cost incurred due to corruption is borne by the taxpayers. Artificial high costs of the goods and services due to corruption translate in reality to mean that many of the citizens are excluded from enjoying them. This is misallocation of resources which results in the decline in the general welfare and the quality of life of the citizens.

Furthermore, when the scare resources of the government are used partly to “fund the corruption”,  the country has to bear a heavy opportunity cost. What this means is that if RM1 million is taken away as a bribe, the same money cannot be used to build schools and so on.  

On the other hand, corruption may also result in the decline of the quality of goods and services provided. This is because the contractor or businessman may compromise on the quality due to less funds available to provide better quality goods and services. 

While segments of the public may be able to sniff out corrupt officials or politicians, this may be insufficient for the enforcement officers to take any action. Prosecution in court requires admissible evidence and understandably this may be difficult to gather. Hence, the MACC should be creative in identifying corrupt officials, and the law should assist them to do so.

Lifestyle auditing and lifestyle monitoring is a method increasingly used by corruption agencies in the world in their crusade against corruption. The principle behind lifestyle monitoring is to investigate the lifestyle of government officials, and employees and politicians (whether current or former) to determine consistency with the incomes.

If the lifestyle is extravagant and appears beyond the income level then the presumption is that they may be involved in corruption. On this basis, the enforcement agency may begin its investigation.

Those involved in corrupt practices will creatively find ways to cover their tracks. They may, for example, use nominees to hold their ill-gotten properties or may deal in cash. However, the principle with money is that it ultimately has to be spent. Therefore, lifestyle or long-term spending patterns may provide indications of money obtained from corrupt practices. 

I understand that the lifestyle monitoring approach to combating corruption has its legal impediments. There are also issues of invasion of privacy and personal data. However, I believe that the current MACC Act can be amended to provide for lifestyle monitoring if that is a reasonable basis to do so.

I believe that the lifestyle monitoring approach to combating corruption has a great advantage particularly if it leads to successful prosecution. This is because government officials and politicians who want to be corrupt  in the future will know that it is going to be much more difficult to spend the proceeds of their ill-gotten wealth. Money is useless unless it can be spent. 

For the lifestyle monitoring approach to be effective there is a need for concerned citizens’ involvement in the fight against corruption. This is where the role of whistleblowers becomes vital and legal provisions ought to be made to protect such genuine whistleblowers. 

It also appears to be the psychological trait of corrupt officials to indulge in conspicuous consumption. Conspicuous consumption is enjoyment to show off that you’re doing well in life. The need to live luxuriously and make it ostentatious is often an inevitable trait of those who had obtained their money without any hard work. 

Corruption and enjoyment lifestyles seem to go hand in hand. This relationship is not difficult to ascertain and identify for an enforcement agency which is serious in detecting and wiping out corrupt practices. Most of the time it appears quite obvious to the public and therefore it becomes frustrating to the public when the enforcement agency appears blind to such unexplained conspicuous consumption and ostentatious lifestyles.

* Jahaberdeen Mohamed Yunoos is a senior lawyer and founder of Rapera, a movement which encourages thinking and compassionate citizens. He can be reached at rapera.jay@gmail.com 

** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.