No pecuniary interest or conflict of interest in Azam Baki buying shares, says MACC Advisory Board

PUTRAJAYA: There is neither pecuniary interest nor conflict of interest on the part of Tan Sri Azam Baki over the issue of acquiring shares of two companies in 2015, says the Anti-Corruption Advisory Board.

Its chairman Tan Sri Abu Zahar Ujang said this was because the MACC chief commissioner did not purchase the shares himself, adding that they were purchased by his younger brother, Nasir.

At a highly-anticipated press conference, Abu Zahar said that the board had called for a meeting on Nov 24 last year and had summoned Azam to explain the allegations.

“In the meeting, Azam explained to me and the rest of the board that his brother had used his (Azam’s) share trading account to acquire the shares in 2015. The shares were bought on the open market and there is no conflict of interest there,” he said on Wednesday (Jan 5).

Abu Zahar said that the board was also told that the shares had been transferred to Nasir’s own trading account later in the same year.

“After a lengthy discussion, the board members are of the opinion that Tan Sri Azam did not have any pecuniary interest on the said shares,” he said.

The board is satisfied with the explanation given and found that there is no criminal conduct or conflict of interest on the part of Tan Sri Azam on this matter,” added Abu Zahar.

He said the board had wanted to make public its findings pertaining to this case.

“Unfortunately, the matter was earlier brought to the public’s attention by former MACC panel member Dr Edmund Terence Gomez,” added Abu Zahar.

Allegations had surfaced that Azam owned a substantial amount of shares in Gets Global Bhd as well as Excel Force MSC Bhd between 2015 and 2016, when he was the MACC director of investigations.