Why didn’t MACC probe other bigwigs over UKSB funds, asks lawyer
Hanif Khatri Abdulla said the prosecutor asking the witness about the spreadsheet implies the evidence was in MACC’s possession from the start.
PETALING JAYA: A lawyer has questioned the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for not carrying out a full investigation of all those alleged to have received funds from Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd (UKSB) when it began its corruption probe on Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in 2018.
Haniff Khatri Abdulla said a key witness in the former deputy prime minister’s corruption trial, David Tan, was likely to have provided this information to MACC when the probe first began.
Tan told the court last week that his laptop with the spreadsheet files containing the list of payments as well as USB pendrives where he kept copies, were seized by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in October 2018.
“As the prosecutor himself had questioned David Tan about the spreadsheet, it would imply that it was among the case items in MACC’s possession since the initial investigation.
“So the question that needs to be raised is, why didn’t the MACC investigate all these other names in the UKSB spreadsheets?” Haniff said in a Facebook post.
He then asked if the MACC was willing to carry out an internal probe as to why the full investigation was not carried out when the evidence was always in their possession.
“Will MACC investigate itself over why the contents of the spreadsheet had not been investigated in relation to the names of other political leaders who received money from UKSB?”
His comments come following Tan’s testimony during the trial last week that former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin, former Sabah chief minister Shafie Apdal, former foreign minister Anifah Aman, and housing and local government minister Reezal Merican Naina Merican were also among those who had received funds from UKSB.
Tan said the payments to Muhyiddin were made between June and August 2018. At the material time, the Bersatu president was the home minister under the Pakatan Harapan government.
Others named during the trial were health minister Khairy Jamaluddin and defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein.
Previously, Tan testified that he kept a ledger of payments made to Zahid between 2014 and 2018 in spreadsheet files on his laptop computer. He said those named in the ledger were “ministers, politicians and government servants”.
Zahid, 69, is facing 33 charges of receiving bribes amounting to S$13.56 million (RM42 million) from UKSB as an inducement for himself in his capacity as a civil servant and the then home minister to extend the contract of the company as the operator of the One-Stop Centre (OSC) in China and the VLN system, as well as to maintain the agreement to supply VLN integrated system paraphernalia to the same company by the ministry.
On another seven counts, he is charged as the home minister to have obtained for himself S$1,150,000, RM3 million, €15,000 and US$15,000 in cash from the same company in connection with his official work.
PETALING JAYA: A lawyer has questioned the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for not carrying out a full investigation of all those alleged to have received funds from Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd (UKSB) when it began its corruption probe on Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in 2018.
Haniff Khatri Abdulla said a key witness in the former deputy prime minister’s corruption trial, David Tan, was likely to have provided this information to MACC when the probe first began.
Tan told the court last week that his laptop with the spreadsheet files containing the list of payments as well as USB pendrives where he kept copies, were seized by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in October 2018.
“As the prosecutor himself had questioned David Tan about the spreadsheet, it would imply that it was among the case items in MACC’s possession since the initial investigation.
“So the question that needs to be raised is, why didn’t the MACC investigate all these other names in the UKSB spreadsheets?” Haniff said in a Facebook post.
He then asked if the MACC was willing to carry out an internal probe as to why the full investigation was not carried out when the evidence was always in their possession.
“Will MACC investigate itself over why the contents of the spreadsheet had not been investigated in relation to the names of other political leaders who received money from UKSB?”
His comments come following Tan’s testimony during the trial last week that former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin, former Sabah chief minister Shafie Apdal, former foreign minister Anifah Aman, and housing and local government minister Reezal Merican Naina Merican were also among those who had received funds from UKSB.
Tan said the payments to Muhyiddin were made between June and August 2018. At the material time, the Bersatu president was the home minister under the Pakatan Harapan government.
Others named during the trial were health minister Khairy Jamaluddin and defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein.
Previously, Tan testified that he kept a ledger of payments made to Zahid between 2014 and 2018 in spreadsheet files on his laptop computer. He said those named in the ledger were “ministers, politicians and government servants”.
Zahid, 69, is facing 33 charges of receiving bribes amounting to S$13.56 million (RM42 million) from UKSB as an inducement for himself in his capacity as a civil servant and the then home minister to extend the contract of the company as the operator of the One-Stop Centre (OSC) in China and the VLN system, as well as to maintain the agreement to supply VLN integrated system paraphernalia to the same company by the ministry.
On another seven counts, he is charged as the home minister to have obtained for himself S$1,150,000, RM3 million, €15,000 and US$15,000 in cash from the same company in connection with his official work.
Wouldn't it be fun if all those who received money were to be charged and sent to jail?
ReplyDeleteI dream....