Albert Tei’s counsel said there was a “serious conflict of interest" with MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki investigating the businessperson over corruption allegations.
Lawyer Mahajoth Singh pointed out that Azam’s name was mentioned in the video exposé made by Tei last week.
“Azam has been implicated in the video, but MACC is now investigating (the case).
“Who are they reporting to? If you look at Sections 7 and 11 of the MACC Act, they are going to report to him.
“So, we have a strange situation where Azam is implicated, Azam is investigating, and at the end, Azam will be the one making decisions,” he said during a press conference outside the Putrajaya Magistrate’s Court today.
Earlier, magistrate Fatin Muneerah Sofian issued a six-day remand order against Tei and Malacca PKR chief Shamsul Iskandar Akin on corruption charges involving mining exploration licences in Sabah.
Another person, Sofia Rini Buyong, who is alleged to be Shamsul’s proxy, is already being held under remand until Monday.
While Sofia and Shamsul were arrested after presenting themselves at the MACC office, Tei was detained in a raid by the anti-graft agency’s officers at his residence in Puchong.
Meanwhile, Bernama reported Azam saying that he has instructed his team to focus on and complete the investigation involving Shamsul and Tei within seven days.
Azam also reportedly assured that the MACC investigations would be conducted professionally and fairly in accordance with the law.
“This case is being investigated under Section 16 of the MACC Act 2009,” he said in a statement today.
‘Spent nearly RM630k’
Tei has been on a warpath to take down politicians whom he allegedly gave money to for mineral exploration licences, which he ended up not receiving.
He later turned his attention to Shamsul, whom Tei claimed he had spent RM629,000 on after being assured that the PKR man could help recoup the money channelled to politicians in Sabah.
Besides funding renovations, appliances, and furnishings for two properties, Tei claimed he had spent thousands of ringgit on premium cigars and tailored suits for Shamsul, who also purportedly requested money from the businessperson while travelling abroad.
Videos released on social media also depicted Tei’s conversation with a woman, whose face was blurred out in the recordings, but has since been identified as Sofia.
In the recordings, the woman told the businessperson that Anwar had given his blessings for the Sabah politicians to be secretly recorded.
She also claimed that Shamsul had met with Azam at an undisclosed time to ask the MACC chief to “settle” the Sabah mining scandal case involving Tei, prompting calls for the national agency and Azam to be recused from the probe on Shamsul. - Mkini
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