EMBATTLED Parti Warisan Sabah vice-president Peter Anthony, who had been ordered to turn up at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission office in Putrajaya tomorrow morning, says this order has been postponed until further notice.

He said he was informed of the postponement about 11.30am today, two hours after Sabah MACC officers had told him to make his way to Putrajaya.

Anthony said at the Karamunsing police station about 2.30pm today that he was relieved at the postponement news as he did not want to travel right now. 

His said lawyers were “negotiating” the terms of the meeting with the MACC when the commission abruptly postponed the meeting.

“I think there is no need for me to be present in Putrajaya to be questioned by MACC officers. All case details, witnesses and projects are here.

“It would make it more difficult for the MACC if the case was transferred to Kuala Lumpur.

“Besides, I might not have any legal representation if the case is brought to Peninsular Malaysia,” he said.

With him at the Karamunsing police station was Warisan vice-president Junz Wong, who was at the station to have his statement taken over several Warisan gatherings last month.

Earlier today, Peter, a former businessman, was at the Sabah MACC office but clueless as to why he was again summoned by the graft busters.

The MACC is probing into the alleged embezzlement of RM1.5 billion in federal funds meant for Sabah rural projects channelled through the Rural and Regional Development Ministry between 2009 and 2015.

Anthony said his lawyers will negotiate to have the questioning held in Sabah instead of Putrajaya, and may apply for a judicial review to challenge any MACC order that insists he turn up at Putrajaya.

“I was already undergoing some medical check-ups and buying medication for my trip to Kuala Lumpur,” he said.

“The list of projects shown to me by the MACC officer involved projects done by my company some years ago… and one of them was the Universiti Malaysia Sabah contract,” he said.

Anthony is the director of Asli Jati Engineering Sdn Bhd, the company at the centre of a 2012 graft probe that involved false claims amounting to RM43 million for mechanical and engineering maintenance work at the university.

Anthony was cleared of the allegations on August 9 the same year.

“The case is not under the Rural and Regional Development Ministry, but under the Higher Education Ministry. I think the MACC is investigating totally a new case,” Peter said. – November 7, 2017.