KUALA LUMPUR: Any further decision on Tan Sri Azam Baki will be decided by the Prime Minister and Cabinet, says M. Kulasegaran.
The Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reforms) said he had also been made to understand that an announcement on Azam will be made soon.
This comes following a news report stating that Azam, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner, owned 17.7 million shares of Velocity Capital Partner Bhd, according to an annual filing by Velocity Capital.
The stake would be worth almost RM800,000 as of the close of trading on Monday (Feb 10).
To this, Kulasegaran urged lawmakers not to jump on things as the matter requires investigation.
He also said there does not seem to be any laws limiting investments by civil servants.
“There is no concrete requirement on investment limits,” he said when winding up debates on the motion of thanks for the Royal Address on Tuesday (Feb 10).
Kulasegaran said he was also made to understand that the declaration on the purchases has been made last year, when the shares were bought.
“That question no longer arises. Yes, there are investigations into high profile individuals and more but we must remember the principles of being innocent until proven guilty,” he said.
Earlier, government backbenchers demanded investigations into Azam after the chief graft buster was revealed to hold millions of shares in a financial-services company.
Hassan Abdul Karim (PH-Pasir Gudang) asked if Azam could be placed on garden leave amidst a professional and fair investigation.
He also noted how former prime ministers Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (PN-Pagoh) and Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob (BN-Bera) as well as army generals had been investigated by the MACC.
“Perhaps the minister can propose to either the Cabinet or Prime Minister to put the MACC chief on leave, amidst an investigation by the MACC itself. Investigations too can be carried out concurrently with related police units.
“If the MACC chief is professional, he should also allow himself to be investigated by graft busters,” he said in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday (Feb 10).
Ramkarpal Singh (PH-Bukit Gelugor) echoed calls for Azam to be placed on garden leave.
He then asked if action could be taken against Azam if he was found to have owned shares over a certain limit.
“What steps will be taken by the government to resolve this?” he said.
Azam also previously faced public outcry after a Malaysian journalist reported in late 2021 on his stockholdings and questioned whether they breached rules for public officials on owning and declaring assets.
Protesters marched in Kuala Lumpur in January 2022, calling for his resignation and arrest.
At the time, Azam said one of his brothers had used his trading account to buy shares. The Securities Commission Malaysia investigated and determined that Azam didn’t breach securities law, saying it found no conclusive evidence that anyone else had used his account. No other disciplinary action has been disclosed.
