Covid-19 is no excuse for delay in Tawfiq Ayman probe, MP tells cops

 

Charles Santiago says the delay is a sign of the lack of political will on the part of the government to pursue the case.

PETALING JAYA: Klang MP Charles Santiago has questioned the police over the excuse given for the delay in probing the Tawfiq Ayman case with the help of their counterparts in Singapore.

He asked if there were more than one investigating officer in the police team that was probing the case, who had tested positive for Covid-19.

Santiago raised this question after the police said one of the reasons for the delay was that the investigating officer had contracted Covid-19 in February.

This had led to the affected officer not being able to respond with suitable dates to go to Singapore.

“You can’t use this excuse. How about other investigating officers in the team? If one officer tested positive, the other officers could still go,” he told FMT.

Previously, Singapore police issued a statement saying that it had proposed for the Malaysian team to conduct its visit between Feb 8 and Feb 9 but the Malaysian side only responded on March 10 requesting to enter the republic in mid- to late-March.

Santiago lamented the delay saying it was a sign of the lack of political will on the part of the government to pursue the case.

“This is a high profile case and so, as the government, by delaying this investigation, it just means there’s no political will to pursue this matter.

“People are already accusing Tawfiq and (his wife, former Bank Negara governor) Zeti of money laundering.

“I think this is where the police have to buck up, whether you like it or not, you have to take responsibility for the delay,” he said.

The Federal Commercial Criminal Investigation Department, in a statement yesterday assured the public that the police were committed to ensuring the probe was concluded as soon as possible in a transparent and fair manner without covering up any party.

Other factors which led to the delay, the police said, were the temporary suspension of the Vaccination Travel Lane (VTL) between Malaysia and Singapore from Dec 23, 2021, to Jan 20, this year, as well as no reply from Singaporean witnesses on their readiness to be interviewed by the Malaysian police.

Singapore police were reported to have informed Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) of suspicious transactions in 2015 and 2016 involving a company owned by Zeti’s husband and one of her sons.

This had led the police to investigate the matter but early this month, deputy law minister Mas Ermieyati Samsudin told Parliament that police were temporarily unable to proceed with the investigation because the border had been closed. - FMT