KUALA LUMPUR, March 11 — The Cabinet has left it to the Chief Secretary to the Government to determine the next course of action regarding the shareholding issue involving Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki, Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil said today.

According to The Star, Fahmi said the matter was discussed during a Cabinet meeting earlier today after a report prepared by a special committee on the issue was presented.

He said the Cabinet had reviewed the findings, which included the outcome of the Attorney General’s investigation, and agreed that further steps would now be handled by Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar.

“The Cabinet received and discussed the findings of the report on the Attorney General's investigation.

“The Cabinet decided that further action will be taken by the Chief Secretary to the Government (Tan Sri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar).

“I will not state the findings of the report since the next step will be taken by the Chief Secretary to the Government. We wait for his statement,” Fahmi said at a special press conference at the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya today.

The committee set up to examine the allegations related to Azam’s share ownership is chaired by Attorney General Tan Sri Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar.

Fahmi also said the Cabinet has instructed enforcement agencies — including the police, the Securities Commission Malaysia, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia — to continue detailed investigations into alleged corporate manipulation.

“Appropriate legal action will be taken, including confiscating proceeds that are believed to have criminal elements.

“They will also look into whether there are existing loopholes in the law that will allow corporate manipulation to take place,” he said.

Fahmi added that the Cabinet was informed that investigations involving several individuals linked to the corporate manipulation issue had begun years earlier.

Last month, Bloomberg published an article alleging that a group of businessmen — purportedly working with certain MACC officers — had pressured corporate figures in takeover cases, describing the alleged network as a “corporate mafia”.

Azam has denied the claims and filed a lawsuit against Bloomberg seeking RM100 million in damages.

The MACC has also rejected the allegations, saying they were believed to have originated from an online blog with no identifiable author or accountable source.

Calls have since emerged from both sides of the political divide, including from MCA Youth, for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate both the alleged “corporate mafia” and Azam’s shareholding issue.

There have also been calls for Azam to temporarily step aside as MACC chief commissioner while the matter is investigated.