MACC has power to investigate a judge

In a statement here today, the agency said it was given the power to investigate any corruption cases under the MACC Act 2009, including the officers defined in Section 3 of the Act.

"An officer of a public body means anyone who is a member, an officer, an employee or a servant of a public body.

"This includes a member of the administration, a lawmaker in Parliament or a member of a state assembly, as well as a judge of a High Court, Court of Appeal or Federal Court, and any person who receives remuneration from public funds, and where the public body is a corporation sole, includes the person who incorporates as such," the statement said.

The statement was issued following criticisms that were hurled at the agency after it confirmed that it had opened an investigation paper against Court of Appeal judge Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali over allegations of unexplained money in his account.

The statement said that in line with the principle of separation of powers, once the investigations were completed, the investigation paper will be submitted to the Attorney-General's Chambers to decide whether to prosecute or not.

"The MACC also has a record of investigating judges where the relevant investigation papers were also submitted to the Attorney-General's Chambers for assessment.

"On the investigation against the judge (Mohd Nazlan), the MACC has received a complaint on March 15 and two others on April 23 and 27. The investigation is still in an early stage and involves matter of public interest," it said.

The statement also stressed that when an investigation was carried out against an individual, it does not mean that the person has committed an offence.

"As such, the MACC would like to call on the general public to give the agency ample space to carry out the investigation according to the law," it added.