KOTA KINABALU: Parti Warisan Sabah vice-president Datuk Peter Anthony has arrived at the state Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters here for questioning over a RM155mil land deal.
Anthony, accompanied by his lawyer Martin Tommy and a handful of supporters, walked into the MACC office at the federal complex at Jalan UMS here at 10.25am on Friday, ahead of his earlier plan to present himself at 2.30pm.
Dressed in light blue and pink shirt, he waved to reporters and walked into the interrogation room.
On Wednesday (Jan 3), MACC issued a notice asking Anthony and lawyer Michael Persius Ubu to present themselves within 48 hours to assist in an investigation into a Rubber Industry Smallholders Association (Risda) land purchase deal in Sabah’s Tongod district.
He said Anthony, who has been recovering from illness, was resting with his family in the Keningau and Tenom and had not been called by any MACC officer to turn up at its office.
“I am surprised that no one called me. I’m his lawyer. They (MACC) have all the contact details. All they had to do was make a call,” Tommy said, adding that Anthony’s MACC bail in connection with a probe of another case would only expire on Jan 26.
Anthony was among 13 people, including Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, arrested in October last year in connection with a high profile probe on the alleged skimming of federal rural projects for Sabah worth RM1.5bil through a network of companies.
Tommy said Warisan is unaware of Ubu’s whereabouts as he is not a party member.
He added that the Tongod case was investigated by police a few years ago and Anthony had been cleared.
MEANWHILE, according to Malaysiakini:
Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) vice-president Peter Anthony has arrived at the Sabah MACC headquarters in Kota Kinabalu.
Anthony arrived at 10.25am today accompanied by his lawyers Martin Tommy and Loretto Padua Jr.
His appearance at the MACC headquarters comes after the commission issued an order on Wednesday giving him and lawyer Michael Persius Ubu 48 hours to turn themselves in.
This is in relation to the MACC’s investigation into the purchase of an oil palm plantation worth about RM155 million in the Tongod district.
Fellow Warisan vice-president Junz Wong had accused the MACC of politicising its investigation as he believes that the commission should have contacted Anthony first before highlighting the matter in the media.
Wong yesterday said that Anthony was in Keningau, Sabah some 100km from Kota Kinabalu.
He also pointed out that Anthony was abiding by his bail conditions which stipulate that he must report to the MACC once every two months.
He last reported to the MACC on Nov 27, 2017, which means that he has until Jan 27 this year before reporting again to the agency.
The MACC arrested Anthony last October after it found that he was a recipient of projects from the Rural and Regional Development Ministry which was previously helmed by Warisan president Mohd Shafie Apdal.
He had denied any wrongdoing, claiming that the project contracts were awarded based on proper procedure.
Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had dropped Shafie, who was also an Umno vice-president, from the cabinet in 2015 due to the latter’s critical views on the 1MDB scandal.
He subsequently quit Umno to form the Sabah-based opposition party Warisan.
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