MACC should have investigated the politicians named in former deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s corruption trial much earlier, instead of waiting until it was brought up in court.
Lawyer Haniff Khatri Abdulla (above) said this is because the individuals were named in the Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd (UKSB) ledger, which was a piece of evidence brought forth by the prosecution themselves.
“Doesn’t this mean that the UKSB ledger book was among the case items that the MACC had long obtained in their early investigations for the case?
“So the issue is, why did the MACC investigation team at that time not go further and investigate the other names in the UKSB ledger book?
“Why was this matter only revealed during the defence counsel’s questioning of the 17th prosecution witness?” Haniff asked in a statement today.
As such, he questioned whether the MACC will investigate themselves for not probing the other names on the UKSB ledger book, which has been with them since early investigations.
Witness prepared by MACC
Similarly, Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng also questioned why the MACC was only looking into the names now.
“Isn’t (David) Tan (Siong Sun) a witness prepared by the MACC in the Zahid corruption trial?
“Why are they now only investigating the ministers and former ministers who are said to have received money from the witness? Or did the MACC never find out about this?” Lim said in a Facebook posting today.
The MACC had said earlier today that it would open investigation papers into several politicians named in Zahid’s corruption trial.
Tan had last week testified to the Kuala Lumpur High Court that apart from Zahid, they also paid RM1.3 million to Muhyiddin Yassin when he was the home minister in 2018.
Other prominent names mentioned in the proceedings included Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, Housing and Local Government Minister Reezal Merican Naina Merican, Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, Warisan president Shafie Apdal and former foreign minister Anifah Aman as they were also stated in the UKSB’s ledger and the MACC’s forensic report.
Zahid is facing 33 charges of receiving bribes amounting to S$13.56 million (RM42 million) from UKSB as an inducement for himself in his capacity as a civil servant and the then home minister to extend the contract of the company as the operator of the One-Stop Centre (OSC) in China and the Foreign Visa System (VLN) as well as to maintain the agreement to supply VLN integrated system paraphernalia to the same company by the Home Ministry.
For another seven counts, Zahid was charged as then home minister to have obtained for himself S$1,150,000, RM3 million, €15,000 and US$15,000 in cash from the same company in connection with his official work. - Mkini
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