KOTA KINABALU: A senior officer of a state government department and a retiree have been arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for allegedly receiving bribes of about RM700,000 from a palm oil factory.

According to a source, the two suspects were arrested at about 11 am yesterday when they went to the Sabah MACC office.

They were believed to have solicited the bribes in return for not reporting to the Sabah Finance Ministry over the factory's falsification of crude palm oil sales declarations.

Meanwhile, Sabah MACC director Datuk S Karunanith, when contacted, confirmed the arrest of the two suspects.

He also did not rule out the possibility of more arrests to be made in connection with the case.

-- BERNAMA