MALAYSIAN Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Azam Baki must face an independent investigation to clear his name of any wrongdoing and restore the agency’s reputation, civil society groups said.

The fact that an internal body, the MACC anti-corruption advisory board, cleared him of wrongdoing means nothing and also raises questions about the board’s integrity, some activists said.

Only an independent and objective investigation can determine Azam’s innocence, and as chief of the anti-graft agency and a public servant, he must also be answerable to the public, the groups added.

Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism’s (C4) Cynthia Gabriel said the board’s decision to clear Azam raises more questions about his integrity.

“Simply clearing him after one interview, and not revealing what else transpired to absolve Azam of all issues of conflict of interest and pecuniary interest, simply sounded bizarre,” the C4 executive director told The Malaysian Insight.

“The entire explanation of his brother using his account raised further legal issues on breaches to beneficial ownership rules and violations of section 25 of the Securities Industry (Central Depositories) Act.”

Section 25 states that securities accounts must be in the name of the beneficiary owner.

It is also concerning that the head of the MACC is violating the rules he is tasked to enforce, Gabriel added.

“Beneficial ownership rules are being cultivated and tightened further here in Malaysia to prevent proxy corporate ownership, following the 1MDB scandal, and we are really disturbed that the MACC chief who played a central role in developing these measures, could have, in all possibility, violated these measures himself.”

Only an independent panel led by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob can clear Azam’s name, Gabriel added.

On Wednesday, the board said that Azam was clear of any wrongdoing with regards to the ownership of 2.15 million shares in Excel Force MSC Bhd in 2015, as well as the 1.93 million shares in Gets Global Bhd the same year and 1.02 million shares the following year.

Board chairman Abu Zahar Ujang said Azam has provided the explanation that his brother, Nasir, bought the shares using Azam’s trading account.

The matter came to light when on December 14 Sungai Buloh MP R. Sivarasa raised the issue in Parliament, asking whether Azam had declared his ownership.

The press conference by Abu Zahar was also the first time in more than a month that the agency publicly addressed the allegations. They were also raised by former MACC panel member Edmund Terence Gomez to Abu Zahar and to Borhan Dolah, who chairs the agency’s consultation and corruption prevention panel.

Gomez resigned from the panel last month to protest the lack of action against Azam, after saying he wrote to both chairmen several times over concerns about Azam’s shareholdings.

Government not taking corruption seriously

Munirah Alatas, exco member of Pergerakan Tenaga Akademik Malaysia (Gerak) said the whole debacle showed that the government was not taking corruption seriously.

“The fact that the advisory board cleared Azam without an independent investigation is ridiculous.

“By merely accepting his words and exonerating him of any wrongdoing showed incredible dishonesty, and breeds further suspicion.

“It also shows that the MACC does not take corruption seriously, or rather, it does not take its job to stamp out corruption seriously.

“By not holding an independent investigation, it is making a mockery of the commission and the entire country,” she said.

Though Azam is the chief of the anti-graft agency, he is not exempt from scrutiny as he is still a public servant answerable to the people, Munirah added.

“Surely Azam doesn’t think he can fool Malaysians into thinking that his role as MACC chief commissioner exempts him from an independent investigation.

“He heads a commission that was set up to investigate ‘any suspected offence’, or ‘any suspected attempt; to commit any offence’.

“It does not matter whether that suspicion is of him or a low-ranked civil servant, or discrepancies within the MACC.”

Reform MACC

Meanwhile, Thomas Fann, chairman of the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections (Bersih 2.0) said the time has come to reform the MACC and take it out of the Prime Minister’s Department.

“We call for a thorough reform of the MACC. The appointment process and accountability of the agency should be to a bipartisan parliamentary select committee, instead of in the PM’s department,” he said.

Fann said the advisory board’s hasty decision to clear Azam without an independent investigation not only brings into question Azam’s integrity but also that of the whole board.

“Would anyone suspected of corruption be released just based on their explanation?

“The integrity of MACC and now the whole advisory board, is in doubt. When it comes to corruption, no efforts should be spared to regain public confidence.

“It is of public interest that the integrity of the chief of MACC must be above reproach and any suspicious wealth should be fully investigated.” – January 7, 2022.