Warisan Youth chief hauled up over Sabah rural project graft probe

KOTA KINABALU: Parti Warisan Sabah Youth chief Datuk Aziz Jamman was hauled up by graft busters on Sunday over the alleged misappropriation of government funds meant for rural projects in Sabah.

When contacted by phone at 9.20pm, Aziz said he was asked to go to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Sabah office here.

"They called me, I said okay. Now, I am going on my own," he said when asked about social media postings about him being called up by MACC.

However, Aziz was allowed to leave the MACC office at 10.45pm but was issued a notice to appear at the same venue at 10.30am on Monday.

Aziz said that he was not given any reason, apart from being told to take a rest and come back on Monday.

"They said they just wanted to chit chat," he told reporters after meeting with MACC officers.

Earlier, Aziz had said that he was not being arrested.

So far, MACC has detained three people including Parti Warisan Sabah vice-president Datuk Peter Anthony, who is a close ally of party president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.

Aziz, who is also Shafie's nephew and former Semporna Umno youth chief, left the party in 2015 to join Shafie when he quit Umno to form Warisan.

MACC officials could not be reached for comment.

Warisan deputy president Darell Leiking posted on Facebook that Aziz was called up for questioning by the MACC.

MACC is investigating how RM1.5bil was siphoned from a total of RM7.5bil funds allocated for rural projects in Sabah over the past six years.

Its deputy chief commissioner (operations) Datuk Azam Baki said they were investigating some 60 companies that were awarded projects for the supply of water, electricity and roads to help people in rural Sabah.