CID director Wan Ahmad Najmuddin Mohd will stay in his job for another year, getting his extension even before news broke out that Australia seized A$320,000 (RM960,000) from his bank account. 

Sources told The Malaysian Insight the decision to extend the service of Wan Ahmad, who was due to retire this year, was made before The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) reported on March 2 that Australian Federal Police (AFP) had seized the money from his bank account.

The spotlight fell on Wan Ahmad when SMH reported the seizure after Australian authorities suspected it was laundered money or proceeds from crime.

On the day of the SMH report, Inspector-General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun defended the CID director, saying that an internal inquiry was held and Wan Ahmad was cleared of any wrongdoing.

The IGP also said that the money was from the sale of Wan Ahmad’s house in Shah Alam. The house was sold for RM700,000 (A$260,770).

Fuzi also said Wan Ahmad was not contesting the decision to seize his money as the legal fees would be expensive.

The Malaysian Insight learnt that Wan Ahmad was not the only senior police officer whose service was extended.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Noor Rashid Ibrahim, who was supposed to retire on March 17, also had his service extended a year.

Wan Ahmad, meanwhile, has been avoiding journalists ever since the news of the seizure broke. The Malaysian Insight’s requests for comments were not entertained.

A spokesman for the Australian Federal Police told The Malaysian Insight that its investigation was into the transfer of funds into Wan Ahmad’s Sydney accounts.

The official said investigations into the case under the Anti-Money Laundering Act were closed in 2017, with a court order to seize the money.

The official said Wan Ahmad would have to hire a lawyer if he wished to contest the judgment or to reclaim the money.

Wan Ahmad opened a Commonwealth Bank “Goal Saver” account in 2011, listing his address at Bankstown and then Glebe in Sydney. Since 2001, Wan Ahmad had visited Australia nine times, always on a tourist visa, often for less than a week and, sometimes, with lots of cash.

Across three trips in 2011 and 2012, he declared A$112,000 (RM338,357) to Australian Customs. He opened the bank account during one of his trips using his own name at the Commonwealth Bank’s Haymarket branch in Sydney’s central business district. The money was allegedly for his son’s aviation studies.

In December 2012, a day after he arrived in Australia, A$30,000(RM90,631) was deposited into his account from different locations – Merrylands, Ryde, Strathfield and Burwood and A$8,000 withdrawn at Haymarket.

The flow of money did not stop there. Money again started to flow into the account in 2016, after it was dormant for years.

This time, deposits were made at five different states – from Biloela in Queensland to Devonport in northern Tasmania to Lakemba in Sydney’s west and Melbourne, six days after Wan Ahmad visited Australia in September 2016.

There were 54 transactions, each deposit below the threshold of A$10,000. Anything above that amount will get the attention of the Australian authorities.

In just one month, the amount that was deposited into Wan Ahmad’s account was A$290,000. The money was allegedly for his daughter’s master’s programme.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has begun an investigation into Wan Ahmad after an unidentified whistle-blower lodged a report with the commission.

MACC deputy chief commissioner (operations) Azam Baki, who confirmed the investigation, also said that the complainant was protected under the Whistle-blowers Protection Act. – March 27, 2018.