MACC: Those questioned should not assume they're witness or suspect

The MACC today confirmed it had taken a statement from former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin over the Jana Wibawa programme and will also be calling in International Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz.

Chief graft-buster Azam Baki, however, cautioned that those who had been questioned should not conclude for themselves whether or not they are suspects in a case.

“Investigations are ongoing and it is not proper for those called in for questioning to conclude themselves whether they were called in as witnesses or suspects,” he was quoted as saying by Bernama.

While Azam did not cite specifics, this appears to be in reply to Muhyiddin who said he was only a witness in the case.

The former prime minister said yesterday he was called up by the MACC to facilitate investigations as a witness, not a suspect.

The Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairperson also stressed that MACC’s investigating officer did not question him on allegations made by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim that Muhyiddin’s administration misappropriated billions of ringgit.

Jana Wibawa was a programme introduced under Muhyiddin’s administration to help bumiputera contractors during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Muhyiddin said the idea was proposed by Zafrul.

Despite the Bersatu president’s declaration of innocence, an MACC source reportedly told Berita Harian that Muhyiddin is indeed a suspect in the Jana Wibawa probe.

On Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced that rural development projects worth RM5.7 billion under Jana Wibawa had been halted temporarily.

This, he said, is only until the procurement and expenditure procedures set by the Treasury are followed.

Zahid said the Finance Ministry, which Anwar currently heads, wanted to check if the projects were awarded according to governance requirements.

Aside from Muhyiddin, several other senior Bersatu leaders have also been questioned by the MACC.

Earlier this month, Malaysiakini reported that MACC froze two of Bersatu’s bank accounts to facilitate investigations under the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act. The two accounts reportedly contained about RM40 million.

An MACC source claimed the account freeze was over allegations that Bersatu received contributions of about RM300 million from some 10 contractors who gained various projects when the party was running the government. - Mkini