MACC couriers to London its questions for PI Bala

The Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission has couriered its questions for private investigator P Balasubramaniam to his lawyers in London.

This was confirmed by one of Balasubramaniam's lawyers, Americk Singh Sidhu, before he left for London this evening.

"They promised to courier the questions to my hotel in London," Americk toldMalaysiakini.

It is learnt the questions were sent earlier this afternoon.

Balasubramaniam and another of his lawyers, Amarjit Singh Sidhu, left for London yesterday from an undisclosed location. Another lawyer, Manjeet Singh Dhillon, is already in London.

They had arranged the meeting for MACC to question Balasubramaniam at Holiday Villas in Leinster Gardens, London, on Monday.

That was before the anti-graft body reneged on its commitment to interview Balasubramaniam in London.

Now, the MACC wants Balasubramaniam to answer its questions in the form of an affidavit.

The anti-graft agency has been tasked to investigate the private investigator's allegation that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's younger brother Nazim and businessman Deepak Jaikishan had played a role in Balasubramaniam's retraction of his highly controversial first statutory declaration.

MACC director of investigation, Mustafar Ali said Americk had agreed to send the answers to the MACC as soon as possible.

"We contacted his lawyer yesterday and we gave him options either to issue his own statement or to provide us with an affidavit," he told Malaysiakini.

"He agreed to respond to our questions and we have sent it via courier to him late this evening, since MACC is not sending a representative."

Alleged payouts for Scorpene subs

On another matter, Americk said he was awaiting to hear further from French lawyer Joseph Brehan for their request for a statement from Balasubramaniam
.
"He will contact me as soon as the prosecutors have fixed a date," he said.

Americk had earlier said that Balasubramaniam would also go to Paris to help assist French prosecutors investigating alleged payouts in Malaysia's purchase of the two Scorpene submarines.

The lawyer had expressed regret that while the French prosecutors were willing to interview Balasubramaniam (below), the same could not be said of the MACC.

Free Malaysia Today reported that the French lawyers, who are acting on behalf of Malaysian human rights group Suaram, are investigating payouts to certain individuals, after it was revealed that a company owned by the wife of Abdul Razak Baginda, a close associate of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, was paid 114 million euro (RM482 million) for doing nothing but "administrative" work.

Earlier, Americk, in a letter to an MACC investigating officer, had expressed disappointment over the commission's cancellation of the pre-arranged interview with Balasubramaniam in London on Monday and Tuesday, and for not officially informing the lawyers.

"We spent a considerable amount of time, effort and money to assist MACC to arrange this interview," he said.

On Wednesday, MACC deputy commissioner Mohd Sukri Abdull said the earlier decision to dispatch a three-member team to London to interview Balasubramaniam had been cancelled.

This went against the earlier commitment to do so by, made by MACC director of investigations Mustafar Ali.

MACC already in bad light

Americk said the last minute about-turn did not augur well for the anti-graft body following the negative publicity it had attracted since the MACC Act came into force in 2009.

He said the people's perception of the commission was "already in tatters" and that the interview would have gone some way to redeem MACC's image.

"Unfortunately, MACC has ignored this... it is extremely regrettable," he said.

However, the lawyer said, they intended to be present at the designated venue, and on time, to await the MACC officers, as originally decided.

"You (the MACC) may see it fit to reconsider your stand and turn up instead," he said.

courtesy of Malaysiakini