THE Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) today quizzed Sabah Star president Jeffrey Kitingan for four hours over an alleged RM20 million bribe for his party to support Barisan Nasional (BN).

Sabah Star, which won the Bingkor and Tambunan state seats, became the kingmaker in Sabah after Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) and Barisan Nasional were tied with 29 seats each in the 14th general election.

Sabah social media users have questioned the opposition party’s sudden support for BN and rumours of a RM20 million payment to Jeffrey soon swirled about.

Jeffrey, who was released by the MACC in Kota Kinabalu at 6pm, demanded that all politicians who crossed over after GE14 be investigated.

“They (MACC) should investigate all the leaders, especially those who crossed over, and I think the MACC should also complete their investigations from last time. To me, all these leaders are crooks and they should be investigated.

“This is for the satisfaction of the Sabahan people,” he said.

Jeffrey was referring to MACC’s investigation on Warisan president Shafie Apdal, no Sabah chief minister, and other party leaders including Azis Jamman and Peter Anthony over the alleged embezzlement of federal funds meant for rural Sabah last year.

Jeffrey, who is Keningau MP, said his house and office in Keningau were raided on Monday night and so was the party’s office in Kota Kinabalu.

His ATM card and some cash he had in his bag were all confiscated by the MACC.

“They said they will return it later… I had some RM80,000 in my bag at the time,” said Jeffrey, who joked that he now he had no more money to buy food.

MACC officers initially contacted Jeffrey to have his statement taken on Sunday but he was in Tambunan at the time.

An appointment was then set for today, he said, but the MACC raided his offices and home yesterday night.

“Nonetheless, they were professionals and had done their job properly, and I have given my full cooperation to them,” he said.

Sabah Star, which swung its support to BN a day after the watershed GE14, paved the way for Sabah BN chairman Musa Aman to be sworn-in as chief minister.

The coalition however lost the the majority after defectors from Umno and Upko joined Warisan. – May 22, 2018.