A MACC source said the CEO, who is a “Datuk”, was arrested with two other top officials from the company. The agency also arrested five individuals who own a company for allegedly offering the bribes for the contracts.

“The suspects from the highway concessionaire are believed to have solicited and accepted bribes from the company owners as an inducement to allow them to take over a construction contract worth RM1 billion which was previously carried out by another company.

“They are also believed to have solicited and accepted bribes involving the construction of a section of another highway project in the Klang Valley. This contract was worth RM670 million,” said the source.

The source added that the two highway projects were worth RM11 billion, but the specific contracts for sections of the projects were worth RM1.6 billion.

The CEO and his colleagues are under remand until Friday while the other five suspects are being remanded until Thursday.

They were arrested by MACC after giving their statements to the graft busters last night.

When contacted, MACC deputy chief commissioner Ahmad Khusairi Yahaya confirmed the arrests and said the probe is being carried out under Section 16(a)(A) of the MACC Act 2009.