[Exclusive] 100 Bidders, One Family Scheme: How Cartels Exploit Marriages For Profit

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Imagine up to 100 bidders lining up for a lucrative project — not as rivals, but as relatives

Bound not just by business but by marriage, this tightly knit cartel turns tender day into a family affair, where competition is merely an illusion.

Sharing this with SAYS, Malaysian Competition Commission (MyCC) Chief Executive Officer Datuk Iskandar Ismail said bid-rigging cartels often take advantage of family bonds, which adds layers of complexity to investigations.

Investigations, he said, can take between six months and two years.

"Some cases involve as many as 50 to 100 companies, and they managed it through marriage," he said.

"Some individuals married more than one, not just out of desire but for financial gain.

"When you have multiple families, there are many in-laws and relatives who would be offered just a few thousand or even hundreds ringgit per month simply for lending their names to be directors of the bidding companies.

"These people would be happy because they get paid for doing nothing every month," he added.

Detecting such proxies, however, is possible with government data from agencies like the Companies Commission of Malaysia and the National Registration Department.

"We have software and systems that allow us to access various data, so we can detect if the individuals involved may know each other or have worked together before.

"Or, let's say they share similar bin and binti names — even if they don't, but are distant relatives, we can still map their family trees.

"So if the wrongdoers think they are clever, we have our own tricks up our sleeves," he said.

However, he acknowledged that investigating such cases is a lengthy process

Iskandar explained that bid rigging differs from price-fixing cartels, which can include price manipulation using friends, employees, or relatives as proxies to control multiple companies.

"Let's say they feel it is not enough and still want to increase their chances of winning a project, so they contact other players in the same business to bid together.

"They all agree on a similar price range, and some of them even dare to put the exact same price on all their bids," he explained.

Since 2022, MyCC has completed at least four bid-rigging investigations, resulting in 26 companies being fined more than RM97 million.

These included IT vendors involved in the National Academy of Arts, Culture and Heritage's procurement, suppliers of life-saving equipment to the Navy, contractors for the Public Works Department and Department of Irrigation and Drainage, and facility management contractors for the Putrajaya Corporation.

Their names would also be submitted to the Finance Ministry and the Construction Industry Development Board for potential blacklisting.