KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 18 — Selangor police have arrested a senior executive of the Sugarbook "compensated dating” service on suspicion of soliciting for prostitution and abusing network facilities.

Selangor police CID chief SAC Datuk Fadzil Ahmat confirmed the arrest that took place at 4.30pm yesterday at the Icon Residence on Persiaran Dutamas, according to The Sun Daily.

Fadzil said the police would seek a remand order for the executive today for investigations launched under Section 372 (B) of the Penal Code for the solicitation of prostitution and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) for misuse of network facilities.

On Monday, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) blocked access to Sugarbook after issuing a statement warning users against the service and said action would be taken if authorities detected elements of prostitution.

The next day, however, Sugarbook launched an alternative website for its users and provided instructions on how to circumvent the MCMC ban.

Sugarbook describes itself as a platform where "romance meets finance”, which has been interpreted as a euphemism for trading sex for payment and among reasons why authorities here have warned against it.

The company insists that it is not involved in any form of prostitution and that any transactions between its users are entirely voluntary.

The company hit controversy recently over promotional material that implied that many of its "sugar babies”, the young women who exchange their companionship in return for financial compensation, were from local universities.