MOHD Shukri Abdull denied having a disagreement with Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, in a press conference given this morning by the former head of the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) in Putrajaya.

He said he had told MACC staff in May of his intention to quit early.

“It is not true that I quit because I fought with Tun (Dr Mahathir),” he said.

“That is a baseless accusation. I did not resign (because of a row), this is my own intention.

“My staff were informed in May about my decision to leave office early and I was glad the government agreed to accept my decision,” he said, adding that he had previously agreed with the PM that he would only lead the MACC for 12 months.

Shukri, an MACC veteran of 32 years, also denied talk that he was forced to quit after failing to investigate former defence minister Hishamuddin Hussein.

“As far as I am concerned, there is no file on Hishammuddin. To say that I was asked to quit because of this is also not true.

“There were also rumours saying that I resigned because I allowed the former attorney general (Mohamad Apandi Ali) to obtain his passport. This is under the Immigration Department; it’s not my job. All of these accusations are nonsense,” he said.

The Malaysian Insight reported this morning that the majority of MACC staff had already known of Shukri’s intention to leave before his contract expired next May.

The former chief had stated his intention to retire once he completed investigations and saw the prosecution of those related to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and former subsidiary SRC International Sdn Bhd.

MACC completed its investigations into 1MDB last July and Najib was charged the same month with the misappropriation of RM42 million of SRC International funds.

The trial is ongoing. – June 8, 2019.