KUALA LUMPUR: Opposition leader Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin has urged the government to explain the involvement of former Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki at a National Financial Crime Prevention Centre (NFCC) advisory board meeting.
Hamzah said he raised the issue following several media queries about it.
“On behalf of the media, I would like to ask the government, what is the justification of Azam's involvement with the NFCC, even though he himself is under investigation over several issues?” Hamzah said during a press conference at the Parliament Media Centre Thursday (July 2).
His remarks followed a post on the Attorney General's Chambers' (AGC) official Facebook page, which featured photographs of Attorney General Tan Sri Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar chairing the NFCC advisory board meeting with Azam in attendance.
According to the AGC's post, the meeting focused on financial crime prevention initiatives and strategic inter-agency cooperation aimed at improving the country's fight against financial crimes.
The controversy surrounding MACC and Azam originally arose in February following a Bloomberg report alleging that he held millions of shares in a financial-services company.
In response to those allegations, a three-member task force led by Dusuki was established to investigate Azam's past shareholdings in a financial-services company.
Civil society groups and lawmakers have also called for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into allegations linked to the so-called “corporate mafia” controversy.
The “corporate mafia” refers to allegations that senior MACC officers orchestrate intimidation schemes, supposedly to pressure executives and shareholders of public-listed firms to resign or sell their shares at steep discounts to a network of connected businessmen.
MACC has denied the claims, labelling them as an attempt to tarnish the credibility of its investigations and enforcement actions.
