A startling allegation has surfaced concerning the second corruption charge slapped on Tourism Malaysia director-general Mirza Mohammad Taiyab - he is being persecuted for being clean as a whistle.
According to a blogger, the charge could be related to a RM600 million contract he had declined to approve for a company linked to Tourism Minister Dr Ng Yen Yen's son.
Mirza is chairman of the Tender Board and strangely enough the closing date for the worldwide advertising tender was on Tuesday, the day after he was hauled to court.
Quoting sources, a posting on the “Another Brick In The Wall” blog claimed that Mirza had been a thorn on Ng's side since being reinstated to his former position as D-G after his first acquittal.
He had purportedly rejected projects and proposals (approved by the minister) which he had deemed a waste of funds and declined to sanction payments that reeked of corruption.
The clincher apparently was the recent Tourism Development Corporation (TDC) worldwide advertising tender for which he refused to consider awarding a company allegedly linked to Ng’s son.
The blogger claimed that the minister and her son were aiming for a “total sapu (sweep)… and Mirza was getting in the way!”
“But this time round MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) better get it right .. they better not lose the second time to the same person because it will be not only be embarrassing to them but it will taint their reputation,” he added.
In July 2009, Mirza was acquitted by the Sessions Court of a charge of accepting dental implant treatment worth RM13,860 in 2005 after the person who instructed the dentist not to collect payment from Mirza owned up.
“Otherwise, he would have been victimised for being in the way of the then minister of tourism, Azalina Othman Said. Mirza is a man with a clean reputation. No ministry staff has any complaint against him.
“And neither is there any grumbling against him for corruption or abuse of power. He is known as a straight arrow to both staff and industry players,” read the posting.
Charged with CBT
On Monday, Mirza pleaded not guilty to a charge of criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving RM888,000.
He was jointly charged with former Pempena Sdn Bhd chief operations officer Mohammad Rosly Md Selamat, 56, who also claimed trial.
Pempena is a failed subsidiary of Tourism Malaysia.
Mirza and Rosly are charged with committing the offence at the Pempena office in the Putra World Trade Centre here on Feb 27, 2007.
They are accused of paying RM888,000 to LCL Interior LCL Dubai for a project to build a restaurant in Dubai even though the project did not fulfil the necessary requirements.
According to the blogger, back in 2007, Mirza was a member of the Pempena board by virtue of being the D-G. He was also an authorised cheque signatory for Pempena.
But things weren’t all good between Pempena and Mirza who disapproved Pempena’s decision to finance the Dubai restaurant.
Despite his objections, the blogger said, the Pempena board of directors had approved the budget.
“He unwillingly signed the disbursement cheque which was squandered away by the recipient company but did not deliver the assigned work. It is claimed that the company was connected to the then tourism minister, Leo Micheal Toyad,” said the blogger.
The Auditor-General’s Report 2008 reported that Pempena did not generate any return on its investment after some RM41.7 million was pumped in the company.
courtesy of FMT
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