MUHYIDDIN FEELS THE HEAT – NOT JUST ONE BUT ‘3 OR 4 MORE’ PROBES ONGOING INCLUDING ON HIM – MACC CHIEF AZAM TO LEAVE IT TO AG TO DECIDE IF MUHYIDDIN A ‘SUSPECT’
AGC to decide if Muhyiddin is a suspect, says Azam Baki
PUTRAJAYA: The Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) will decide if former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is a witness or suspect in connection with the Jana Wibawa programme probe, says Tan Sri Azam Baki.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner said he could not elaborate on the matter as the investigation is still ongoing.
“I will let the AGC decide once the case investigations are completed if he is to be charged. We have yet to send the investigation paper to the AGC as we are still in the midst of our investigations,” he told reporters at the MACC headquarters on Thursday (Feb 23).
The Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia president also alleged “political slander”, adding that the MACC investigating officer who questioned him on Feb 16 did not ask any questions on the alleged billions he was said to have accumulated during his tenure as the eighth prime minister.
He explained to the MACC that he had all the papers to prove what went on.
The MACC investigating officer then read out the names of the companies but he did not recognise them.
He claimed that he asked if he was a suspect and would be charged and was informed that he was not a suspect but was called in merely to give explanations in the process of investigations. ANN
Jana Wibawa: Several more probes ongoing, including on Muhyiddin
More charges related to the Jana Wibawa scheme might be laid soon, said the MACC, which has already charged two individuals so far.
MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki said there were “three or four” more investigation papers being prepared for the Attorney-General’s Chambers.
“I do not rule out that there are others, including (political) leaders who are being investigated,” he told reporters in Putrajaya today.
When asked specifically if Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin would be charged, Azam said he was unable to comment as investigations are ongoing.
“Investigations against him are proceeding normally… I leave it to the attorney-general to decide once the case is completed,” he said.
Over the past two days, the MACC had laid charges against Segambut Bersatu division deputy chief Adam Radlan Adam Muhammad in two separate courts in the Klang Valley for soliciting and receiving bribes related to the Jana Wibawa scheme.
Yesterday, the MACC also charged company director Teo Wee Cheng at the Johor Bahru courts with soliciting and receiving bribes related to the same scheme.
Former Bersatu information chief Wan Saiful Wan Jan, who was charged in court on Tuesday with soliciting and receiving bribes, claimed that his party was being subjected to selective prosecution.
When asked about this, Azam denied the allegation, stressing that the MACC acted professionally on seven complaints that it received.
“We are not a tool of any political party. Our investigations are based on complaints and information. There is no selective prosecution,” he said.
‘Our job to detect criminality’
Meanwhile, Azam confirmed that investigations on Telekom Malaysia’s (TM) disposal of its subsidiary that manages the Kuala Lumpur Tower (KL Tower) have been completed.
He said the matter was being deliberated by the Attorney-General’s Chambers.
TM decided to dispose of the subsidiary in October 2021 to focus on its communications – its core business – instead of tourism.
However, some netizens claim that the transaction was suspicious because the company that acquired the asset was a little-known firm without a track record in the tourism industry.
On the latest National Audit Department (NAD) report, Azam said several issues raised were under investigation, but he did not provide specifics.
“We study every (NAD) report. Do remember that our job is to detect criminality while the report also includes non-compliance.
“We (can only) look at criminality. That is within our jurisdiction,” he said. MKINI
ANN / MKINI
.