THE Court of Appeal’s decision to overturn Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor’s RM2 million corruption conviction is a major blow to the fight against corruption, the Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4 Centre) said today.

The anti-corruption watchdog said it is dismayed by the court’s majority decision, noting that the RM2 million exceeded the amount a candidate is allowed to spend in an election campaign. 

“This decision is a major blow in the fight against money politics, which is predicated on the close links between businessmen and politicians. 

“Even if the RM2 million was for the by-elections, it far exceeds how much a candidate is allowed to spend in a campaign under the Election Offences Act 1954. Where has the rest of the money gone?” it asked.

The Elections Offences Act 1954 stipulates that an election candidate cannot spend more than RM200,000 to campaign in an election to the Dewan Rakyat, while RM100,000 is the limit for a state seat election.

Earlier today, the appellate court ruled that the RM2 million Ku Nan had received from businessman Chai Kin Kong on June 14, 2016 was in fact a donation for the election campaign and not a bribe. 

The donation was purportedly used in the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections, both held later the same month in 2016.

The Umno politician was convicted of corruption and sentenced to 12 months in jail and fined RM2 million in December last year by the Kuala Lumpur High Court. The sentence was stayed pending appeal.

C4 Centre said as it stands now, there is little oversight on political donations and today’s decision will only “embolden” politicians to consolidate their links with businessmen and cement the practice of political donations even further.

“Urgent reforms are needed to ensure that the flow of money from business to politics is controlled and disclosed to the public. 

“Without these reforms, this unchecked practice will continue to enable corruption and cronyism amongst our elected representatives. We cannot continue to let our democracy be destroyed by abusers of public office.”

It also highlighted another case that Ku Nan was embroiled in, where Ku Nan was accused of receiving a RM1 million bribe in 2013 from Tan Eng Boon, a director of a property and development company. In this case, the court gave Ku Nan a discharge not amounting to acquittal to allow the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to conduct further investigations. The case has seen no progress since December 2020.

The group urged the prosecution to appeal against the court’s decision today and for the Attorney-General’s Chambers to update the public on Ku Nan’s RM1 million corruption charges.

It also called for the MACC to investigate the proposed Pavilion Taman Tun project at Taman Rimba Kiara and the Bangsar-Damansara elevated highway project.

The Pavilion Taman Tun project involves the development of eight blocks of 42 to 54-storey high end service apartments. The Bangsar-Damansara elevated highway project is worth RM211.5 million and seeks to connect the Sprint Highway-Jalan Semantan interchange in Damansara to the Sprint Highway-Jalan Maarof interchange in Bangsar. – July 16, 2021.