MACC Strengthens Anti-corruption Efforts With AI, Digital Systems

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 17 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is strengthening its anti-graft drive by leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and digital systems to accelerate investigations, close gaps for leakages and enhance governance and service delivery.

MACC Deputy Chief Commissioner (Operations) Datuk Seri Ahmad Khusairi Yahaya said corruption crimes today no longer occurred only in traditional ways, but had rapidly expanded through digital transactions, including cryptocurrencies, offshore accounts and virtual financial systems.

“This is where artificial intelligence, or AI, emerges as a new strategic weapon in the battle against corruption, not to replace humans but to empower agencies such as the MACC to be more agile, proactive and efficient,” he told Bernama.

He said AI-enabled investigators to filter thousands of financial files within minutes, detect unusual transactions, build intelligent networks between individuals, companies and financial data, and analyse potential conflicts of interest.

“By using platforms such as Sentinel: Criminal Intelligence Analytics, the investigation period can now be shortened from years to just months,” he said.

He said AI also functioned as an early warning system capable of detecting unusual lavish lifestyles, analysing high-risk public projects and providing early signals of possible misappropriation.

Ahmad Khusairi, who is also MACC’s Chief Information Officer (CIO), said that apart from strengthening investigations, various digital systems had been introduced to improve the effectiveness of service management and internal communications.

Among these are centralised management of complaints and corruption reports, digital case item management and performance monitoring of officers, now implemented through a dedicated platform.

“To coordinate information and communications with other agencies, particularly in managing corruption risks or developing organisational anti-corruption plans, the MACC also uses systems that facilitate interaction,” he said.

He said the MACC had also introduced monitoring and reporting systems for integrity units in public agencies and a special database to manage prevention and education activities.

In terms of public communications, he said the MACC had introduced a virtual officer avatar known as SARA (Saya Antirasuah) on TikTok to deliver anti-corruption messages to society.

He said the use of AI in MACC’s media management had gained recognition, winning several awards, including the Gold Award at the 5th ASEAN PR Excellence Awards 2025.

According to Ahmad Khusairi, the combination of AI and blockchain technology paved the way to absolute transparency in public procurement systems, project payments and subsidy distribution, thereby reducing the risk of manipulation of public funds.

“AI is not replacing humans, but strengthening those fighting against corruption while maintaining public and global confidence in the country’s commitment to build transparent, efficient and corruption-free governance,” he said.

Commenting further, he said that in its drive to harness digital technology and AI, the MACC acknowledged the existence of data security and confidentiality risks that must be addressed carefully.

“To overcome these challenges, the MACC has strengthened controls by implementing strict data governance policies, regular human review mechanisms, as well as multi-layered cybersecurity protection systems,” he said.

Meanwhile, he said to ensure the MACC remained ahead in enforcement, whether in corruption crime investigations or in streamlining its administrative management systems, the commission had also applied the use of AI technology and digital systems.

He said the AI applications included Applied AI Tools and Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT), AI Chatbot, Tungsten TotalAgility (TTA), Natural Language Processing (NLP), and IDEA Caseware for profiling, digital information detection and preliminary analysis.

“The existence of AI-based software also enables the automatic detection of errors or missing data, for example, invalid account numbers or formatting errors such as dates.

“Another advantage of AI is that it assists in analysing and structuring unorganised data by generating dashboard displays and network maps, in addition to producing analytical data summaries to identify trends or behavioural patterns,” he said.

According to Ahmad Khusairi, in managing data sourced from image scans into searchable, editable and analysable digital text more quickly and efficiently, the MACC also used software such as Adobe Acrobat Pro DC and ABBYY FineReader to expedite data preparation.

He said to ensure the MACC’s service management operated effectively in both internal affairs and external dealings with other agencies and stakeholders, the commission had also introduced digital systems such as the Complaint Management System (CMS) and the Corruption Reporting Information System (CRIS) for centralised management of complaints and corruption information.

The Exhibit Management System (EMS) was also introduced to digitally manage case items, the MACC Fingerprint Information System (MACCFIS) for digital fingerprint management of corruption offenders, as well as the MACCKPI and Integrity Screening System (eSTK) for managing the Key Performance Indicators (KPI) of MACC officers and staff.

He said to coordinate information and communication with other agencies, particularly in corruption risk management or the development of organisational anti-corruption plans, the MACC also used systems known as the OACP and CRM to facilitate interaction.

In fact, he said the MACC had also introduced the MACC National Governance Committee Reporting System (eSPJ) to coordinate governance committee reports at the ministerial level, and had applied the Agency Integrity Management System (AIMS), which acts as a monitoring and reporting system for the functions of integrity units in public agencies.

In addition, he said the PenMas Reporting Information and Database (PRIDE) system was also introduced to manage and monitor prevention and education activities or programmes.

-- BERNAMA