PAC wants judiciary to develop own bail payment system

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has called on the judiciary to develop its own online bail payment system to ensure full government ownership of the data.

The recommendation follows PAC’s finding that Dapat Vista (M) Sdn Bhd operated e-Jamin at 192 courts nationwide for five years since Jan 10, 2020 without a formal government contract.

“The operation of the system for five years without a contract, through repeated special exemptions, constitutes an excessively long period of financial non-compliance,” PAC chairman Mas Ermieyati Samsudin said in a statement after tabling the committee’s report on the management of court bail payments through e-Jamin in the Dewan Rakyat today.

She said PAC also found that bail money collected through e-Jamin was deposited into Dapat Vista’s commercial account instead of the Consolidated Trust Account, breaching Article 97(1) of the Federal Constitution and Section 7 of the Financial Procedure Act 1957.

As of Dec 31, 2024, the account held RM193.71 million in bail deposits, of which Dapat Vista invested RM130.8 million under the company’s name, she said.

“The absence of a contract also allowed the company to invest and earn interest of RM4 million to RM5 million a year without government control,” Mas Ermieyati said.

PAC also identified an unverified discrepancy of RM557,258 between e-Jamin’s records and the company’s bank statements, she added.

The committee called, among others, for the government to promptly finalise a formal agreement with Dapat Vista and clearly define what constitutes “public money”.

It also called for bail funds to be managed in accordance with existing financial laws, criminal bail deposit accounts to be verified, and clearer guidelines for proof-of-concept projects.

PAC further recommended stricter rules for government ICT procurement and financial exemptions to prevent vendors from operating without valid contracts.