Five people have been arrested, including a department store manager and analyst programmer, for bribery and fraud.

Also arrested in yesterday's Independent Commission Against Corruption operation were directors of two suppliers and a staff member of a third.

The programmer, responsible for seeking quotations from computer suppliers and making purchase recommendations, allegedly inflated quotations, offering at least $100,000 in bribes to the manager for approving them. They then allegedly submitted false invoices to defraud the store.

The programmer allegedly pocketed price differences totalling $500,000 between March 2004 and last May from the purchase of computer and related equipment worth $2.2 million.

Inquires are continuing.