Akhbar Satar, who is the Malaysia Association of Certified Fraud Examiners president, said private businesses had enabled corruption by offering bribes to public officials to get “work done”.

“The fact is, it takes two to tango.

“The private sector is not just a victim of corruption but also the perpetrator of corrupt practices and often works hand-in-glove with corrupt public officers,” he said in a statement.

Akhbar said the Global Infrastructure Anti-Corruption Centre revealed that corruption in projects carried out by the private sector was similar to the corruption in the public sector.

The only difference is that the cost of corruption in the private sector is not directly borne by public funds.

“It nevertheless can have serious consequences on the cost and quality of work carried out by the private sector.”

Procurement fraud, the former Transparency International Malaysia president said, was rampant in the private sector and involved billions of ringgit.

There are incidences of bid-rigging as well as corporate fraud and bribes to secure private contracts.

“Corruption in the private sector is a familiar feature in their community and has been the focus of the MACC. More evidence is emerging to support the view that the level of private sector corruption is on the rise.”