MACC chief Azam Baki and his brother must reveal the source of the income that allowed them to buy shares in public listed companies in 2016, a senior DAP leader said today.

Penang deputy chief minister P. Ramasamy said Azam and his brother could have spent around RM330,000, or slightly more, to purchase one million shares in 2016.

He said this amount was based on a value of 30 sen to 33 sen per unit of those shares in 2016.

“For the vast majority of the public officials, a sum of RM300,000 could not have been affordable. Unless of course, there were different sources of income.

“Did Azam have other sources of income in 2016? Or was the money given by his brother? What was the source of his brother’s income?” Ramasamy said in a statement.

He also questioned Azam’s explanation that he was not the owner of the shares as his brother had used his trading account to buy them.

Ramasamy said Azam must reveal why he hid this information from MACC.

He also said it was puzzling as Azam had to buy the shares in 2016 on behest of his brother.

“Was his brother in some kind of trouble?”

He also hit out at de facto law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar over his “pathetic defence” of the MACC chief commissioner in buying the shares.

“His argument in support of civil servants delving in the shares market seems cleverly contrived to save the embattled Azam.

“It is not about civil servants acquiring shares or trading in the shares market; it is about the integrity of the civil servants, whether they are allowed to engage in such activities when they should be focused on their jobs,” he said.

Ramasamy added that it was important for Wan Junaidi to interpret the law by reading it together with the general orders stipulated by the Public Service Department.

“Wan Junaidi rather than blindly supporting Azam should ask why he used his name to buy the shares.

“How could Wan Junaidi condone the practice of civil servants dabbling in the shares market of public listed companies?

“Isn’t it morally and ethically wrong to engage in such practices even if these engagements are legally permissible,” he said.

He added that the government must establish a high-powered investigation panel to look into the allegations against Azam.

Yesterday Wan Junaidi said investigations into Azam were in accordance with the law, with both the Securities Commission (SC) and police looking into the case.

Azam has been under the spotlight over his ownership of corporate shares, which led critics to call for investigations against the MACC chief.

The MACC’s Anti-Corruption Advisory Board found Azam had done no wrong after hearing his explanation that the shares belonged to his brother who had used his trading account.

The shares were later transferred to the brother, and, as such, there was no conflict of interest, it added.

This issue was raised in Parliament on December 14 by Sungai Buloh MP R. Sivarasa, who questioned whether Azam had declared the alleged 2.15 million shares owned in Excel Force MSC Bhd in 2015, as well as 1.93 million shares in Gets Global Bhd the same year and 1.02 million shares the following year.

Azam had also said he had informed his superiors in 2015 about the purchase of the shares by his brother and that no concerns were raised.

Wan Junaidi said that Azam had first purchased a million shares in a publicly listed company in 2016 for RM330,000 or between 30 sen and 33 sen per share. The current size of his shareholding was accumulated over the years. – January 9, 2022.