The Malaysian government now insists that Sabah timber tycoon Michael Chia was never caught in Hong Kong, nor was Chia arrested by the former British colony’s anti-corruption authorities.
“According to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Michael Chia was never caught in Hong Kong.
“Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) never arrested Michael Chia,” Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz told the Dewan Rakyat today.
Nazri said the RM40 million seized from Chia (on right in picture above) and frozen was wired into an account and was not in the businessman’s possession as claimed by the opposition and reported in the media.
The de-facto law minister said this when winding up for the Prime Minister's Department during the committee stage of the Budget 2013 debate in the Dewan Rakyat today.
“According to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Michael Chia was never caught in Hong Kong.
“Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) never arrested Michael Chia,” Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz told the Dewan Rakyat today.Nazri said the RM40 million seized from Chia (on right in picture above) and frozen was wired into an account and was not in the businessman’s possession as claimed by the opposition and reported in the media.
The de-facto law minister said this when winding up for the Prime Minister's Department during the committee stage of the Budget 2013 debate in the Dewan Rakyat today.
Money supposedly for Musa Aman
It has been reported that Chia was arrested with the cash in Hong Kong and the money was supposedly for Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman. The money was allegedly payments to Musa from the Sabah timber industry.
Nazri said this in reply to questions from Opposition MPs who interjected during his speech and wanted him to clarify allegations that Chia was arrested with RM40 million in Singapore dollars and investigated for money laundering.
Earlier, Nazri said the Attorney-General's Chambers and the MACC had cooperated fully in the ICAC investigation, provided evidence and obtained testimonies as requested until the day the Hong Kong anti-graft body found Musa and Michael Chia were not involved in any corruption activity.
The charges were raised by Opposition MPs during the policy stage of the budget debate.
The MPs said the ICAC withdrew its investigations on money laundering against Chia because of no cooperation from the Attorney-General’s Chambers and the MACC which, dragged on the case for a far longer period than Hong Kong law allowed.
Nazri said this in reply to questions from Opposition MPs who interjected during his speech and wanted him to clarify allegations that Chia was arrested with RM40 million in Singapore dollars and investigated for money laundering.Earlier, Nazri said the Attorney-General's Chambers and the MACC had cooperated fully in the ICAC investigation, provided evidence and obtained testimonies as requested until the day the Hong Kong anti-graft body found Musa and Michael Chia were not involved in any corruption activity.
The charges were raised by Opposition MPs during the policy stage of the budget debate.
The MPs said the ICAC withdrew its investigations on money laundering against Chia because of no cooperation from the Attorney-General’s Chambers and the MACC which, dragged on the case for a far longer period than Hong Kong law allowed.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.