MACC assures probe into corruption cases done with full transparency

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has guaranteed that every corruption case investigation will be conducted with full transparency.

MACC chief commissioner Datuk Seri Azam Baki said every action taken by the agency was clear and uncompromising and asked all parties to remain calm so that investigations could be conducted in detail for better results.

He also asked the public not to have a negative perception of cases under investigation and to give the MACC time and space, especially when the country is facing challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"(For instance), the court decision yesterday was a process that had to be taken (apart from) facing negative comments from the public that gave rise to a negative perception of the MACC.

"It was as if the MACC did not carry out its duties, but we ask everyone to remain calm because (there are) limitations that we face (when conducting investigations),” he said on the Ruang Bicara programme broadcast by Bernama TV yesterday.

He said no one could stop every action by the MACC and it was only time that would determine the pace of an investigation being conducted.

"But what I’m asking for is some patience and I guarantee that our actions will always proceed as before,” he said.

Yesterday, former Felda chairman Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad was found guilty on nine corruption charges involving RM3 million over the agency’s purchase of Merdeka Palace Hotel & Suites (MPHS) in Kuching, Sarawak.

High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali was reported to have found that the defence by Mohd Isa, 71, was a mere denial and that the accused also failed to raise reasonable doubts against the prosecution’s case at the end of the defence case.

Meanwhile, a man with a Datuk title and a former Mara Inc chairman, was arrested by the MACC yesterday and will be charged today on 22 counts for allegedly receiving bribes totalling RM33.45 million from controversial property purchases in Melbourne, Australia.

-- BERNAMA