MACC: Probe on Anwar when Mahathir in power turned up nothing

MACC: Probe on Anwar when Mahathir in power turned up nothing


MACC has rejected former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad's insinuation that the graftbuster did not act on a former Bank Negara assistant governor’s allegations against Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim years ago.

Instead, the MACC said its predecessor the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) had conducted an investigation on the 1999 allegations when Mahathir was prime minister, but that it turned up nothing.

In a statement today, the MACC said the ACA had opened six investigation papers against Anwar after former Bank Negara assistant governor Abdul Murad Khalid made a statutory declaration in October 1999 claiming that Anwar had around RM3 billion in 20 separate personal accounts.

Murad also claimed he had managed transfers of around RM120 million to those accounts.

The ACA's probe of the allegations was thorough and had assistance from Bank Negara, as well as authorities in the UK and Singapore, MACC added.

"The investigations found no case against Anwar.

"The six investigation papers were submitted to the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) on Aug 12, 2002 and the AGC decided there were no charges against any quarters," it said.

Mahathir stepped down as prime minister for the first time in 2003.

The nonagenarian had dredged back the Murad allegations while questioning why Anwar was not being investigated for corruption.

In 2012, it was reported that Murad retracted the statutory declaration while accusing the ACA of forcing him to sign the document.