The husband-and-wife top officers in the Pahang Customs Department who are suspects in alleged money-laundering and tax evasion activities involving billions of ringgit, have been released unconditionally since their remand to assist investigations.
The man was released yesterday. His wife was freed on Friday.
The lawyer for the 51-year-old officer said magistrate Nordiana Abdul Aziz had ordered the suspect to be released after the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) told the court that they had completed their investigations on him.
The MACC will be submitting the investigation papers to the Attorney-General's Chambers for further instructions.
The couple were detained on March 28 following a raid on their house where several hundred thousand ringgit in cash was seized.
The raid was part of a joint operation conducted in Penang, Johor, Selangor and Pahang by a special task force which comprised the Commission, the Inland Revenue Board, the Customs Department and Bank Negara.
Source : The Star
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Over 60 customs officers arrested by MACC
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has seized millions of ringgit from at least five of the 62 customs officers arrested to date.
MACC director of investigations Datuk Mustafar Ali said one officer, a director, had several millions in his account while another had almost RM1mil in his bank account.
He said two others had more than RM500,000 in their accounts.
“Our officers even found gold bars stashed in the house of one of the officers while another had more than RM600, 000 in several bags in his house during the raid on his house," he told reporters in a press conference at the MACC headquarters here Saturday.
Mustafar added that two imitation pistols with more than 200 rounds of bullet as well as fireworks and illicit cigarettes were also recovered from another senior custom officer's house.
It is learnt that nine of the 62 arrested to assist investigations are women. All 62 are aged between 24 and 56.
Mustafar said several officers had also admitted to collecting money ranging from between RM100 to RM500 for every customs declaration K1 forms (for import purpose) submitted and approved.
He said investigations were still on going and that more people would be picked up to assist in investigations.
To a question he said Port Klang was the most corrupted place with more than 40 officers arrested.
Source - The Star
MACC director of investigations Datuk Mustafar Ali said one officer, a director, had several millions in his account while another had almost RM1mil in his bank account.
He said two others had more than RM500,000 in their accounts.
“Our officers even found gold bars stashed in the house of one of the officers while another had more than RM600, 000 in several bags in his house during the raid on his house," he told reporters in a press conference at the MACC headquarters here Saturday.
Mustafar added that two imitation pistols with more than 200 rounds of bullet as well as fireworks and illicit cigarettes were also recovered from another senior custom officer's house.
It is learnt that nine of the 62 arrested to assist investigations are women. All 62 are aged between 24 and 56.
Mustafar said several officers had also admitted to collecting money ranging from between RM100 to RM500 for every customs declaration K1 forms (for import purpose) submitted and approved.
He said investigations were still on going and that more people would be picked up to assist in investigations.
To a question he said Port Klang was the most corrupted place with more than 40 officers arrested.
Source - The Star
Monday, March 21, 2011
‘Rep’s office searched without a permit’
A Selangor Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigating officer said he conducted a search in Seri Kembangan assemblyman Ean Yong Hian Wah’s office without a search warrant.
Mohd Anwar Ismail said he had used Section 31 (3) of the MACC Act to search Ean Yong’s office at the Selangor state secretariat building and seize a central processing unit (CPU) and laptop.
“The MACC does not need a warrant,” Mohd Anwar told the Commission of Inquiry into the death of political aide Teoh Beng Hock.
However, Commission chairman Federal Court judge Tan Sri James Foong and commissioner Datuk T. Selventhiranathan pointed out that Section 31 (3) of the MACC Act was only applicable during emergency situations.
Selventhiranathan said what Mohd Anwar did was an abuse of power as the search and seizure in Ean Yong’s office was not conducted in an emergency situation.
“You cannot grab like this. Anyone who has gone through a law course will know this is an exception and not a general rule,” said Selventhiranathan.
Mohd Anwar is a lawyer by training and had practised for several years before joining the MACC.
Teoh, who was Ean Yong’s political secretary, was taken to the Selangor MACC office on the 14th floor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam for questioning on July 15, 2009. He was found dead the next day.
Selventhiranathan also told Mohd Anwar he was virtually emasculating the public prosecutor’s powers by proceeding under Section 31 (3) of the MACC Act.
He told Mohd Anwar that Section 31 was meant to prevent blatant search and entry.
Both Foong and Selventhiranathan also told Mohd Anwar they wondered how MACC officers with SPM qualification would apply the Act, given his interpretation of it.
Mohd Anwar also told the Commission that Kota Alam Shah assemblyman and DAP lawyer M. Manoharan had asked to be allowed to speak with Ean Yong and Teoh in private and he had granted permission.
“He didn’t even have to ask you,” said Foong, adding that the Commission did not want the MACC to have more power than the police.
Source - The Star
Mohd Anwar Ismail said he had used Section 31 (3) of the MACC Act to search Ean Yong’s office at the Selangor state secretariat building and seize a central processing unit (CPU) and laptop.
“The MACC does not need a warrant,” Mohd Anwar told the Commission of Inquiry into the death of political aide Teoh Beng Hock.
However, Commission chairman Federal Court judge Tan Sri James Foong and commissioner Datuk T. Selventhiranathan pointed out that Section 31 (3) of the MACC Act was only applicable during emergency situations.
Selventhiranathan said what Mohd Anwar did was an abuse of power as the search and seizure in Ean Yong’s office was not conducted in an emergency situation.
“You cannot grab like this. Anyone who has gone through a law course will know this is an exception and not a general rule,” said Selventhiranathan.
Mohd Anwar is a lawyer by training and had practised for several years before joining the MACC.
Teoh, who was Ean Yong’s political secretary, was taken to the Selangor MACC office on the 14th floor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam for questioning on July 15, 2009. He was found dead the next day.
Selventhiranathan also told Mohd Anwar he was virtually emasculating the public prosecutor’s powers by proceeding under Section 31 (3) of the MACC Act.
He told Mohd Anwar that Section 31 was meant to prevent blatant search and entry.
Both Foong and Selventhiranathan also told Mohd Anwar they wondered how MACC officers with SPM qualification would apply the Act, given his interpretation of it.
Mohd Anwar also told the Commission that Kota Alam Shah assemblyman and DAP lawyer M. Manoharan had asked to be allowed to speak with Ean Yong and Teoh in private and he had granted permission.
“He didn’t even have to ask you,” said Foong, adding that the Commission did not want the MACC to have more power than the police.
Source - The Star
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Campaign Launched Against Sarawak Timber Corruption
The Bruno Manser Fund launched a international campaign against the blatant corruption and abuse of public funds by Abdul Taib Mahmud, Chief Minister of the Malaysian state of Sarawak. A campaign website, http://www.stop-timber-corruption.org, will be regularly updated and is equipped with features for an interactive campaign with public participation. Taib, one of South East Asia's longest-serving politicians, has been in office since 1981 and is planning to celebrate his 30th anniversary in power on 26 March 2011. The 75-year old kleptocrat will stand as an incumbent for another five-year term of office in the upcoming Sarawak state elections, which are due to be held before July.
Taib has abused his public office to a frightening extent and has managed to convert the state of Sarawak into his family's private estate. He simultaneously holds the offices of Chief Minister, and Finance Minister, as well as that of State Planning and Resources Minister, which gives him enormous political power. In addition, Malaysia's “Barisan Nasional” coalition, which forms the federal government, is dependent on Taib's support to remain in power. Sarawak's largest private company, its electricity supply, large-scale logging interests and the control of log exports are also concentrated in the hands of the Taib family.
Since 1983, Taib and his immediate family members have started to transfer considerable parts of their ill-gotten assets overseas. The Bruno Manser Fund has established a black list with 49 Taib companies in eight countries worth hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars. The list will be published next week, and the authorities of these countries will be asked to freeze all Taib assets and to launch criminal investigations against the Taib family.
In Sarawak, corruption has proved to be one of the main drivers of deforestation. While most of the state's forests have been logged or converted into plantations over the last three decades, Sarawak's indigenous communities have seen little, if any, benefit from Taib's so-called politics of development. Poverty, illiteracy and a lack of basic infrastructure are omnipresent in rural Sarawak. Sarawak's numerous indigenous communities, and particularly the Penan, have struggled since the 1980s against destructive logging and have fought for their land rights but, in most cases, they have been outmanoeuvred and cheated by Taib and his cronies.
fPcN support this campaign and ask all our members and supporters to join!
Source : Bruno Manser Fond
Taib has abused his public office to a frightening extent and has managed to convert the state of Sarawak into his family's private estate. He simultaneously holds the offices of Chief Minister, and Finance Minister, as well as that of State Planning and Resources Minister, which gives him enormous political power. In addition, Malaysia's “Barisan Nasional” coalition, which forms the federal government, is dependent on Taib's support to remain in power. Sarawak's largest private company, its electricity supply, large-scale logging interests and the control of log exports are also concentrated in the hands of the Taib family.
Since 1983, Taib and his immediate family members have started to transfer considerable parts of their ill-gotten assets overseas. The Bruno Manser Fund has established a black list with 49 Taib companies in eight countries worth hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars. The list will be published next week, and the authorities of these countries will be asked to freeze all Taib assets and to launch criminal investigations against the Taib family.
In Sarawak, corruption has proved to be one of the main drivers of deforestation. While most of the state's forests have been logged or converted into plantations over the last three decades, Sarawak's indigenous communities have seen little, if any, benefit from Taib's so-called politics of development. Poverty, illiteracy and a lack of basic infrastructure are omnipresent in rural Sarawak. Sarawak's numerous indigenous communities, and particularly the Penan, have struggled since the 1980s against destructive logging and have fought for their land rights but, in most cases, they have been outmanoeuvred and cheated by Taib and his cronies.
fPcN support this campaign and ask all our members and supporters to join!
Source : Bruno Manser Fond
Friday, March 4, 2011
Lenggeng Assemblyman Guilty of Corruption
March 4, 2011 - Lenggeng assemblyman Mustafa Salim was found guilty Friday of accepting a RM2,000 bribe from a contractor as an inducement to issue a supporting letter to mine sand, more than two years ago.
The Star reported that the 51-year-old, first-term assemblyman from Barisan Nasional BN) was, however, acquitted of two counts of soliciting bribes from one M Manimaran for the same purpose.
Mustafa was charged under Section 10(a)(aa) of the Anti-Corruption Act 1997 with accepting the money at a restaurant in Mantin on Aug 31, 2008.
The charge carries a jail sentence of between 14 days and 20 years, and fine of five times the bribe amount or a minimum of RM10,000.
The BN representative in the Negeri Sembilan State Assembly and former teacher will be sentenced Sessions Court judge Amran Jantan by at 2.45pm today.
Mustafa was acquitted on April 14, 2010 of three charges of bribery by the Sessions Court but the prosecution appealed the verdict.
The court case raises the possibility of another by-election.
In the March 2008 election, he had beaten Zulkefly Mohamad Omar from PAS by 5,555 votes to 4,270.
Reported By : malaysiandigest
The Star reported that the 51-year-old, first-term assemblyman from Barisan Nasional BN) was, however, acquitted of two counts of soliciting bribes from one M Manimaran for the same purpose.
Mustafa was charged under Section 10(a)(aa) of the Anti-Corruption Act 1997 with accepting the money at a restaurant in Mantin on Aug 31, 2008.
The charge carries a jail sentence of between 14 days and 20 years, and fine of five times the bribe amount or a minimum of RM10,000.
The BN representative in the Negeri Sembilan State Assembly and former teacher will be sentenced Sessions Court judge Amran Jantan by at 2.45pm today.
Mustafa was acquitted on April 14, 2010 of three charges of bribery by the Sessions Court but the prosecution appealed the verdict.
The court case raises the possibility of another by-election.
In the March 2008 election, he had beaten Zulkefly Mohamad Omar from PAS by 5,555 votes to 4,270.
Reported By : malaysiandigest
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