We never bought any Israeli spyware, says MACC

Azam Baki says there had never been any purchase of a surveillance technology from Israel.

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has denied a claim by an Israeli daily that it had purchased surveillance equipment from an Israeli company, after former prime minister Najib Razak urged the commission to come clean on the matter.

MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki told FMT that neither he nor his predecessor, Latheefa Koya, had ever heard of the company, let alone dealt with it.

“MACC has never dealt with this company, we do not even know who they are. Even Latheefa did not deal with them nor knew about them,” Azam said.

Najib, in denying a report linking his administration to a spyware developed by an Israeli company for surveillance just before the May 2018 general election, had urged former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Latheefa to respond to the claim.

An Israeli daily, The Calcalist, said Senpai Technologies Ltd sold the spyware to the Malaysian police’s Special Branch before the 2018 elections, followed by more purchases by the Special Branch, the Prime Minister’s Office and the MACC a year after PH came to power.

Azam said as he was in charge of MACC’s operations when Latheefa served as chief commissioner, any system the agency procured would have gone through him first.

“But no one even approached me. So I’m not sure how they (the authors of the report) got their information.” - FMT