TAN Sri Musa Aman was freed from all charges of corruption and money laundering out of justice upheld by the Perikatan Nasional government, says Minister in the Prime Minister’s department Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan.
The Minister in charge of law said investigations have found that the case against Musa was groundless.
“The main witnesses had either passed away, or had serious health issues and every record that can be used as reference documents in Hong Kong no longer exist because according to the Hong Kong legislation, after three years, every document it has must be destroyed,” he said during his winding up speech at Parliament yesterday.
Takiyuddin said this in response to former deputy minister in charge of law Mohamad Hanipa Maidin, who questioned Musa’s release.
“He wasn’t released. He was released and freed. The case was withdrawn,” said Takiyuddin.
Takiyuddin had given an analogy of Musa’s case, as he hinted that the former Sabah chief minister’s case might have been reopened by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) due to “political interference” after Pakatan Harapan won GE14.
Following the investigations, Takiyuddin said Musa was given a total of 35 charges under the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 and 16 charges of money laundering.
Takiyuddin said Musa’s case was first opened by the MACC following complaints in May 2009, where joint investigations were subsequently commenced together with Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).
“Because the government that time treated this as a huge case which involved a lot of money and also foreign banking institutions.”
Takiyuddin said the then attorney-general Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail had deliberated the investigation findings, and found that funds frozen in Hong Kong amounting to USD$47.6mil related to Musa, was actually political funding for Sabah Umno.
In October 2010, Takiyuddin said the ICAC then confirmed with the MACC that they’ve found nothing in Musa’s case.
“The ICAC then decided to unfreeze Musa’s account in Hong Kong,” he said, adding that the case was further classified as “no further action (NFA)” by Malaysian authorities in 2012.
At the same time, Takiyuddin also noted an affidavit filed by Abdul Gani on May 13, this year, which stated that investigations had found no wrongdoing was done by Musa in line with the ICAC’s decision.
“He (Gani Patail) made this affidavit to uphold justice. This justice should have been upheld by a professional in the legal field.”
Musa was first charged in November 2018 with 35 counts under Section 11(a) of the MACC Act 2009 for allegedly accepting US$63mil (RM243mil) in Hong Kong and Singapore as an inducement for offering timber concessions in Sabah.
In 2019, Musa was then charged with 16 counts of money laundering amounting to RM160mil in total.
In Oct 2019, the prosecution dropped five out of the 35 graft charges against Musa.
In June 2020, Musa was acquitted of all 46 charges against him.
The Minister in charge of law said investigations have found that the case against Musa was groundless.
“The main witnesses had either passed away, or had serious health issues and every record that can be used as reference documents in Hong Kong no longer exist because according to the Hong Kong legislation, after three years, every document it has must be destroyed,” he said during his winding up speech at Parliament yesterday.
Takiyuddin said this in response to former deputy minister in charge of law Mohamad Hanipa Maidin, who questioned Musa’s release.
“He wasn’t released. He was released and freed. The case was withdrawn,” said Takiyuddin.
Takiyuddin had given an analogy of Musa’s case, as he hinted that the former Sabah chief minister’s case might have been reopened by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) due to “political interference” after Pakatan Harapan won GE14.
Following the investigations, Takiyuddin said Musa was given a total of 35 charges under the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 and 16 charges of money laundering.
Takiyuddin said Musa’s case was first opened by the MACC following complaints in May 2009, where joint investigations were subsequently commenced together with Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).
“Because the government that time treated this as a huge case which involved a lot of money and also foreign banking institutions.”
Takiyuddin said the then attorney-general Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail had deliberated the investigation findings, and found that funds frozen in Hong Kong amounting to USD$47.6mil related to Musa, was actually political funding for Sabah Umno.
In October 2010, Takiyuddin said the ICAC then confirmed with the MACC that they’ve found nothing in Musa’s case.
“The ICAC then decided to unfreeze Musa’s account in Hong Kong,” he said, adding that the case was further classified as “no further action (NFA)” by Malaysian authorities in 2012.
At the same time, Takiyuddin also noted an affidavit filed by Abdul Gani on May 13, this year, which stated that investigations had found no wrongdoing was done by Musa in line with the ICAC’s decision.
“He (Gani Patail) made this affidavit to uphold justice. This justice should have been upheld by a professional in the legal field.”
Musa was first charged in November 2018 with 35 counts under Section 11(a) of the MACC Act 2009 for allegedly accepting US$63mil (RM243mil) in Hong Kong and Singapore as an inducement for offering timber concessions in Sabah.
In 2019, Musa was then charged with 16 counts of money laundering amounting to RM160mil in total.
In Oct 2019, the prosecution dropped five out of the 35 graft charges against Musa.
In June 2020, Musa was acquitted of all 46 charges against him.
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