Individual Corruption

According to a 2008 news article by Deutsche Press-Agentur, illegal immigrants have reportedly been buying forged personal identification documents, including birth certificates, from a syndicate involving national registration officers for around MYR 18,000 in order to enter Malaysia. Similarly there are reports of immigrants who pay bribes in order to avoid deportation.

According to the Transparency International's Global Corruption Barometer 2010, only few of the surveyed households report having paid bribes to obtain utilities and medical services or when dealing with registry and permit services.

Business Corruption

Transparency International Bribe Payers Index 2008 shows that business executives perceived registry and permit services to be corrupt, ranking it as the third most corrupt institution in the country. In addition, there are also reports of companies offering facilitation payments in order to expedite visa approvals for immigrant workers. An example illustrating this was when the former immigration chief was arrested in July 2009 for accepting USD 18,020 in bribes from a businessman, in order to speed up the visa process for immigrant workers, as reported by a 2008 news article by Reuters India.

Global Integrity 2010 reports that company inspections by government officials to ensure basic health, environment, and safety standards not always carried out in a uniform and even-handed manner. Despite that there are companies that have followed legal compliance and constructed award-wining projects, there are also many examples of companies that did not adhere to legal and safety routes, and resorted to bribing in order to obtain licences and certificates.

Political Corruption

According to the US Department of State 2010, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had arrested 140 public servants for passive bribery between January and May 2010.

According to the US Department of State 2008, the Director General of Immigration was arrested for allegedly accepting bribes to authorise visas for more than 4,000 workers from Bangladesh - a labour group vulnerable to exploitation. It also arrested the Deputy Director General for allegedly accepting bribes to authorise social visas for Chinese women, a group vulnerable to commercial sex exploitation. Both officials were removed from their positions along with six other officials.

Frequency

The World Bank & IFC: Doing Business 2011:
- To obtain a construction permit in Malaysia requires a company to undergo an average of 25 administrative procedures, taking an average of 261 days at a cost of 8% of income per capita.

World Economic Forum: The Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011:
- Business executives give government administrative requirements (permits, regulations, reporting) in Malaysia a score of 4.0 on a 7-point scale (1 being 'extremely burdensome' and 7 'not burdensome at all'), constituting a competitive business advantage for the country.

Transparency International: Global Corruption Barometer 2010:
- 5% of households who had contact with registry and permit services in 2009 report to have paid a bribe.

- 4% of households who had to obtain utilities in 2009 report to have paid a bribe.

- 2% of households who had contact with medical services in 2009 report to have paid a bribe.

Transparency International: Bribe Payers Index 2008:
- Business executives give the registry and permit services a score of 3.6 on a 5-point scale (1 being 'not at all corrupt' and 5 'extremely corrupt').

Transparency International Malaysia: Transparency Perception Survey 2007:
- 23% of corporate respondents cite the Road Transport Department and the Licensing Board to be among the most corrupt public institutions in Malaysia.

The World Bank & IFC: Enterprise Surveys 2007:
- Over 10% of companies indicate business licences and permits as a major constraint to doing business.