Sivarasa claims MACC reprisal action after highlighting Azam Baki’s stock trading scandal

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 23 — PKR’s R. Sivarasa today claimed the MACC is taking reprisal action against his service centre manager after he raised the issue of MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki’s share ownership in the Dewan Rakyat.

The Sungai Buloh MP pointed out that service centre manager KR Naveen, who is also his nephew, was given a letter by MACC recently, informing that he will be charged in court for an alleged corruption offence tomorrow.

Sivarasa said the alleged offence had in fact taken place around 2017, before claiming that the charging was a reprisal for having raised the issue of Azam Baki’s substantial share ownerships in public listed companies.

“This reprisal action by MACC will only serve to further damage its reputation as it will be seen as being motivated by personal factors and ulterior motives.

“If MACC thinks this will make me or my colleagues in Parliament back off on this issue, they are completely mistaken.

“I hope that the Prime Minister will see that the integrity of a key institution MACC is seriously tarnished by such reprisal actions.

“His statements on fighting corruption will look even more and more hollow,” he said in a statement here.

On December 14 last year, Sivarasa filed an urgent motion for Parliament to discuss the allegations against Azam, but this was rejected by the Speaker of the House.

Recounting the chronology of event, Sivarasa said he had in August 2017 publicly raised with the Immigration Department on an issue involving a Bangladeshi businessman who was corruptly obtaining permits for Bangladeshi workers as cleaners and staff in hotels by using fabricated documents.

Sivarasa then said three of his service centre staff were then detained by MACC about a month later after they came under investigation for attempting to solicit money from the Bangladeshi businessman in return for dropping the issue.

“I state for the record that this allegation is completely false, malicious and without any basis.

“My staff nor myself were in no position whatsoever to control what actions the DG of Immigration would take regarding the issue that I had already raised publicly.

“My staff were also in no position to decide what I would or would not do with regard to the matter,” he said.

Affirming that he too had given a statement to the MACC, Sivarasa said MACC had then made it clear that no charges were to be brought against any of his staff upon their release from remand.

He also noted that if any evidence of wrongdoing on the part of his staff had been found, the MACC could have charged them immediately then.

“Now, a month after I had raised the issue of Azam’s ownership of shares in Parliament on December 14, 2021, an allegation which has no basis has suddenly been revived by MACC to charge my staff.

“The entire action by MACC reeks of a personal vendetta intended to try to tarnish the image of my service centre,” he said, adding that a legal team will prove his employee’s innocence in court.