Inquest will answer RPK’s claims, says MACC chief

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Datuk Seri Abu Kassim Mohamed refused to comment today on claims by blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin and reiterated that an inquest will answer allegations into the death of Customs officer Ahmad Sarbaini Mohamed.

“There is going to be an inquest then everything will come out in the inquest. Everything will be answered in the inquest,” he told The Malaysian Insider.

Raja Petra, in a post on his Malaysia Today website yesterday, claimed the police had conducted a thorough check on Sarbaini’s assets and found no unusual or extraordinary wealth.

Raja Petra (picture) has also accused MACC of trying to tarnish Sarbaini’s name following his death.

“He (Sarbaini) had only three modest cars — a Perodua Kancil, a second-hand Honda CRV and a Proton Persona — and a Modenas Kriss bike, which he rode to the MACC office on that unfortunate morning of 6th April, the day of his death,” Raja Petra said yesterday.

“He owned an apartment in Bukit Tinggi, Klang (RM65,872), an apartment in Puncak Alam (RM68,988), a semi-D cluster house in Saujana Impian in Sungai Buloh (RM230,000) and RM35,000 in savings in Amanah Saham Bumiputera... All these were duly accounted for,” Raja Petra posted in Malaysia Today.

Sarbaini, 56, was found dead on the badminton court of the MACC building in Jalan Cochrane here on April 6 at about 10.20am, barely two hours after walking in.

His death, which occurred while the Teoh Beng Hock RCI was still ongoing, came as a huge blow to the anti-graft body’s already battered credibility.

Teoh, a DAP aide, fell to his death at the then-Selangor MACC office on July 16, 2009. An 18-month inquest returned an open verdict, ruling out both suicide and homicide in Teoh’s death.

The police have recommended an inquest be held for Sarbaini and the Attorney-General has agreed but Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers have criticised the idea, citing Teoh’s case as reason to back their doubts.

Police filed an application for an inquest at the Jalan Duta court complex on June 3.