MACC reopens investigation into 2017 case, Sivarasa cries foul

PETALING JAYA: A PKR MP has cried foul after the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) reopened investigations into a corruption case from 2017.

Sungai Buloh MP Sivarasa Rasiah claimed that the MACC had decided to charge his nephew Naveen Rasiah next Monday (Jan 24) because the PKR MP had spoken out on the stock trading controversy involving its chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki.

“Almost four-and-a-half years have passed since the investigation was completed in September 2017. No action was taken against Naveen at that time and in fact, the file should have been closed,” he said.

Sivarasa said he raised the issue of Azam’s ownership of shares in Parliament on Dec 14, 2021, and one month later, the MACC decided to charge Naveen, who works in his service centre.

“The entire action by MACC reeks of a personal vendetta intended to try to tarnish the image of my service centre,” claimed Sivarasa in a Facebook post on Sunday (Jan 22)

“Naveen and his legal team will demonstrate his innocence in the court battle ahead, he said.

In his statement, Sivarasa said that on Friday (Jan 21), Naveen was summoned to the KL MACC office and was given a letter saying he would be charged for corruption at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court on Monday.

He said that the charge was based on events that took place from August to September in 2017, when he raised an issue concerning the Immigration Department and a whistleblower.

Sivarasa said he had raised an issue about a Bangladeshi businessman obtaining permits for his workers using fabricated documents and he urged the Immigration Department’s director-general at the time to address the issue.

“Suddenly, on Sept 21, 2017, three of my service centre staff members, Naveen, Joshua Kalaisevan and Nico Kam were arrested by the MACC, remanded for four days and investigated for allegedly trying to solicit money from the businessman in return for dropping the issue,” he said.

He also claimed that his staff were in no position to influence the Immigration Department’s director-general’s decisions.

Sivarasa also said he had given his statement to the MACC in 2017 and Naveen was not charged after he was released from remand.

“I am sure that if any evidence of wrongdoing on the part of Naveen or the others had been found, the MACC would have charged them immediately,” he added.