HK’s ICAC gags future talk on RM40m Sabah Umno case

Rafizi said the ICAC’s advice to keep things secret could only mean that it views the matter seriously. — File pictures

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 13 — Hong Kong graftbusters have cautioned Malaysia’s opposition leaders against publicising any future developments in the RM40 million Sabah Umno case, warning that compromising confidentiality could jeopardise their probe as well as the safety of those involved.

In keeping with their own secrecy rule, officials from the renowned Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) also refused at their meeting with PKR yesterday to confirm or deny if they planned to reopen the controversial case, which has been linked to Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman.

Rafizi Ramli, who led PKR’s delegation to Hong Kong, said the officials had merely offered their undertaking to carefully peruse all the documents he had surrendered to them as evidence before contacting him again.

“They said they will go through everything in great detail and contact us for the next step. They would not say if the case will be reopened,” he told The Malaysian Insider in a phone call from Hong Kong.

But despite the ICAC’s secrecy, the PKR strategy director insisted that yesterday’s meeting had been fruitful, adding that the agency’s advice to keep things secret could only mean that it views the matter seriously.

He said PKR agreed to proceed in cloak-and-dagger fashion to respect the ICAC’s processes and to ensure that should the agency decide to reopen its books on the case, their public statements would not ruin its investigation.

“So if we are coming again to Hong Kong, with witnesses, or without, the advice is that we do not announce it in the media. 

“This could be good for Musa, in a way, since we cannot shed too much light on the investigation... but we will find a way to keep things alive politically without compromising the ICAC’s work,” Rafizi said.

The PKR strategy director, along with four other PKR leaders, had yesterday submitted to the ICAC a stack of confidential transaction slips and financial statements from several accounts held by timber trader Michael Chia, who was investigated for money laundering and corruption charges by the ICAC in 2008.

The documents, which detail numerous large money transfers made as “deposits” for timber concessions from several logging firms into Chia’s account, also show the paper trail link to Musa, who is the key decision maker in the award of such logging contracts in Sabah.

Musa is at the centre of the RM40 million ‘political donation’ case.

Rafizi has been trying to prove that Chia has been acting as Musa’s middleman in the award of lucrative timber concessions in the state by receiving kickbacks on behalf of the chief minister from logging firms.

According to previous reports, Chia was first caught in Hong Kong in 2008 holding some RM40 million for Musa in Singapore currency. A subsequent probe by the ICAC and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) proved unfruitful and the case was later dropped after it was discovered that the money had been meant as a “political donation” to Sabah Umno and was not meant for Musa’s personal use.

But Rafizi said his documents, obtained from several individuals said to be Chia’s partners in two Hong Kong-based firms holding offshore British Virgin Island (BVI) accounts, should be enough to shed light on the corruption link between the businessman and Musa.

He added that the ICAC officials had appeared particularly interested in the transaction slips which, he said, clearly showed that they had not successfully sighted the same documents during their earlier probe.

“Don’t forget, these are BVI accounts and they would not have had accessed to them,” he pointed out.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Rafizi had said that Chia’s partners had released the stack of company transaction slips to him some two months ago, presumably because they had had a falling out with Chia and now were interested to rat on the latter.

Rafizi said the individuals were even willing to testify before the ICAC should their assistance be required.

“The ICAC guys were very interested with that bit of information. So I believe this is also a good reason why we should keep this quiet for now... we don’t want our witnesses in the case to be placed in compromising positions,” he said.

“I guess the concern is that if we announce the next time that we are travelling to Hong Kong and we have witnesses with us... the ICAC officials fear their safety.

“What they also want to avoid is for people to start piecing two and two together... if we keep travelling back and forth to Hong Kong, for example, then it is clear the case is open,” Rafizi said.

Rafizi and three other PKR lawmakers had first lodged a report with the ICAC last month, listing three reasons to encourage the agency to reopen the probe against Musa and Chia — separate claims from Sabah lawmakers Datuk Seri Lajim Ukin and Datuk Seri Wilfred Mojilip Bumburing that the RM40 million from Chia was an inducement for corrupt gains and not a political donation to Umno as previously claimed, and the receipt of a luxury vehicle from Chia by Umno minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz, possibly for corrupt reasons.

Musa’s alleged link with Chia first exploded in the media following an April article by whistleblower site Sarawak Report, which had claimed that latter was caught trying to leave the Hong Kong International Airport with the RM40 million in Singapore currency.

At the time, Chia had allegedly told the authorities that the money was meant for Musa, kicking off a probe on the series of fund transfers from Malaysia to Hong Kong that was then believed to be the possible laundering of monies generated from illegal logging activities in Sabah.

The issue hit the headlines again last month when Nazri told Parliament that Musa had been cleared of corruption in the matter after Malaysian and Hong Kong anti-graft authorities found that the money was a “political donation” to Sabah Umno and was not meant for Musa’s personal use.

But in the ensuing debates on the issue, Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers chided Nazri for declaring Musa innocent without providing proof that the ICAC had cleared the chief minister of its own accord.

According to Nazri, the ICAC had closed the case after the MACC discovered in its probe that the money in Chia’s possession was meant for Sabah Umno and not Musa.

After Nazri’s denial, Rafizi held a press conference in Parliament revealing what he said was photographic proof that Nazri had allegedly received kickbacks from Chia to clear his name, in the form of a RM459,000 Hummer given to his son.