PUTRAJAYA: The case of Perikatan Nasional allegedly funding its electoral campaign by receiving contributions from gaming companies during the national polls has not been closed, assures top graft buster Tan Sri Azam Baki (pic).
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner said his officers might not have opened investigation papers as yet, but the case was “not closed”.
“We will definitely carry out an investigation if more information is given to us that is within our purview,” he told The Star.
Azam said that for now, officers had found the information provided to be “too general”.
“This is why we have not opened any investigation papers. But rest assured, if we receive more detailed information, we will proceed and investigate,” he added.
Last year, it was reported that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had implied that part of Perikatan’s electoral war chest was derived from gambling-related sources.
At the Dewan Rakyat on Thursday, Pasir Mas MP Ahmad Fadhli Shaari asked about the status of the investigation into claims that certain parties within Perikatan had received contributions from gaming companies during the last general election.
In a written reply, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said the agency had conducted a detailed study regarding the information provided but found it to be “too general”.
“No parties were able to confirm the issue. Therefore, no investigation papers were opened on this matter,” she said.
Yesterday, she issued a statement to deny that MACC had dropped its inquiry into the case.
“The response I provided in the Dewan Rakyat on behalf of MACC does not indicate that investigations into the claims have been dropped,” she said in a statement.
“Instead, MACC has only stated that no investigation papers have been opened due to the general nature of the information obtained.”
Azalina added that Malaysian law did not have any statute of limitations to initiate an investigation (for crimes).
