PETALING JAYA: It is an offence for uniformed police officers to accept ang pow or money packets while on duty, warned Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Razarudin Husain.
Razarudin's caution came on the heels of a recent incident where a traffic police officer was found to have stored several 'ang pow,' packets containing thousands of ringgit, in the locker during a random search at a district police headquarters in the city.
"It is an offence to accept ang pow while on duty since we are already being paid, so it is unnecessary.
"Except if we are off duty and we are visiting a close friend at their home during the festivities, that is a different story," he told reporters at today's press conference.
Yesterday, the Bukit Aman Integrity and Standards Compliance Department (JIPS) said they were conducting an internal investigation on a policeman who allegedly stowed away ang pow packets and a significant amount of cash at the Setapak police station.
JIPS director Datuk Seri Azri Ahmad said the case had been forwarded to Bukit Aman, and it would open a disciplinary enquiry paper on the policeman, who was found in possession of the money and ang pow packets during the inspection.
He said they were investigating the source of money and establishing whether it involved misconduct.
The existing standard operating procedures dictated that on-duty police officers are only allowed to carry RM100 on them and any excess amount would have to be declared to their supervisor.
Prior to that, a whistleblower site also reported about JIPS operations that led to the discovery of RM4,239 in cash and the ang pow, which were kept in a sling bag in a policeman's locker.
The team also found RM2,050 in ang pow in the policeman's small bag attached to his right hip.
It also mentioned that the police had opened an investigation paper on the matter.