Did MACC file report after Pamela Ling went missing, asks lawyer

Sangeet Kaur Deo asks if MACC recognised that Pamela Ling faced potential safety risks since she may have had sensitive information linked to a money laundering probe.

Pamela Ling was supposed to give her statement to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission but failed to show up.

PETALING JAYA:

 Lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo today asked if the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had filed a missing person’s report on Pamela Ling, who was supposed to give her statement but failed to show up and could not be contacted by the agency.

Sangeet, who is acting for Ling’s family, also asked if MACC had informed the cops “at the earliest opportunity” that Ling was assisting the graft-busters in a money laundering probe.

She said Ling could have been in possession of material or sensitive information that might have put her in a vulnerable position, exposing her to potential safety risks.

“Did MACC recognise this potential risk, and did it alert the police to this possibility at the earliest opportunity, so that appropriate lines of inquiry could be pursued (in probing her disappearance)?

“We call upon MACC to confirm that it had fully disclosed to the police, at the earliest opportunity, the nature and extent of Ling’s involvement in the money laundering probe, and whether they had reason to believe she may have been exposed to risk as a result.

“And if they had not done so, why?” Sangeet said in a statement.

Sangeet said the claim that Ling’s e-hailing car had been intercepted by three vehicles indicated that she had either been followed, or someone knew she was heading for the MACC headquarters.

“This raises serious concerns. Did MACC anticipate or detect any such risk? Was this crucial detail shared with the police at the outset (of its missing person investigation) to assist in tracing those involved?”

If the police were informed, they should clarify what steps they had taken to locate Ling and investigate her disappearance, she said.

“Did the police actively examine the possibility that her disappearance could be linked to the investigation or to any individual or entity implicated in it?”

Two police reports have been filed in relation to Ling’s disappearance.

Ling’s brother, who claimed that she had been abducted, said her e-hailing car was intercepted by three unidentified vehicles, and that she was instructed to get into one of them.

MACC said the woman was assisting in a probe under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 while police said she had visited the anti-graft agency’s headquarters multiple times before her disappearance.

Kuala Lumpur police chief Rusdi Isa also said they had yet to uncover any leads in their investigation into her disappearance.

Sangeet said it was unacceptable for Rusdi to say they had no leads in the case, considering her involvement in the MACC probe and the suspicious circumstances surrounding her disappearance.

She said Ling’s family had been cooperative, transparent, and proactive with the authorities and were expecting the same of MACC and the police.

“The family remains resolute in their efforts to uncover the truth and find Pamela. This case will not be allowed to drift into silence.

“Disappearances under suspicious circumstances are becoming a disturbing trend in Malaysia. Each unresolved case chips away at public confidence in our institutions and the rule of law. Such incidents must never be treated as routine. There must be answers and accountability,” she said. - FMT