Ex-cops suspect abuse of govt grant

Members of the Malaysian Ex-Police Association ask: Where is the RM0.5m given last year?

PETALING JAYA: Several members of the Malaysian Ex-Police Association (MPA) have demanded that their president, Shafie Bakri, explain how a RM500,000 government grant is being used.

Their spokesman, Nasiruddin Mohamed (photo, seated second from left), told a press conference today that the money was disbursed to MPA last March and was meant to be used as assistance for retired policemen. Also present was Solidari Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM) national coordinator Badrul Hisham Shaharin.

“But we’ve found out that RM200,000 was transferred to a company in Klang that was said to be acting as the agent receiving the funds,” he added.

Nasiruddin said he and other MPA members had lodged numerous reports with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the Registrar of Societies (ROS) against Shafie to no avail.

He also said this was not the first time MPA had experienced trouble with Shafie’s leadership, alleging that the latter had spent nearly RM600,000 of the association’s funds on dinner programmes and other social functions.

“We also found that he had liquidated about RM200,000 worth of premium savings certificates for no apparent reason.”

He urged MACC and ROS to take action against Shafie, saying they should show concern for the wellbeing of former policemen.

He accused ROS as being particularly negligent despite having received complaints against Shafie since 2005.

“And please don’t victimise MPA for the fault of one man,” he said, addressing ROS. “If you dissolve the MPA for this, the police veterans will stage a mass protest.”

Nasiruddin claims to be a vice-president in MPA, but Shafie told FMT that his accuser had never held any major executive position in the association and had been kicked out for making “baseless accusations” against it.

Referring to the RM500,000 grant, Shafie said RM200,000 had been used for MPA activities and not transferred to any company.

“The remaining RM300,000 is still in the MPA accounts,” he said. “We audit our books every year. Why can’t Nasiruddin wait for last year’s account to be released before hurling allegations?”

He said Nasiruddin and his supporters had been accusing MPA of various improprieties since 2005 but had failed to impress the authorities.

“Nasiruddin even took us to court seven times and we won all the cases,” he added.

“As a former cop, Nasiruddin should respect the law and stop his slander against the MPA.”