Chief commissioner Azam Baki said the agency is tracking down some 90 voters who allegedly received the money.

“We are identifying 90 individuals in Terengganu who are said to have received cash handouts to vote for a political party in (GE15),” he said in a brief statement today.

Although he did not name the party, the probe is believed to be related to PAS after Terengganu Umno filed petitions to nullify election results in three constituencies in the state on the grounds of vote-buying.

Previously, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang defended the cash handouts given several days before GE15, saying it was done by the public, and not the candidates themselves.

The Marang MP argued that only election candidates and their representatives were prohibited from giving cash handouts.

Perikatan Nasional secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin also said cash handouts to voters during election campaigns were acceptable if done with good intentions.

However, Azam later said MACC would probe any form of bribery based on the law, not personal interpretation.

He said whether called “sedekah” (almsgiving) or “contribution”, the law would deem such payments a bribe, irrespective of whether it was solicited by voters.

Meanwhile, Malaysiakini reported that MACC had tracked down half of the 90 individuals but was struggling to locate the remaining voters as they lived outside the state.