KUALA LUMPUR, March 23 — A DAP federal lawmaker said today that the investigation on a youth and sports ministry official’s alleged misappropriation of RM100 million may have been compromised as investigators had weeks before notified the minister of the probe.
The lawmaker, Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng, said such matters should be classified as secret and that by giving minister Khairy Jamaluddin the heads-up, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) team handling the matter had jeopardised the investigation.
“Other corrupt officials in the ministry would have quickly destroyed incriminating evidence,” Lim pointed out in a statement.
“As this involves a huge sum of money over a period of six years or even more, no one should have been alerted or forewarned about the investigation proceedings including the Minister himself,” he added.
Lim also asked if the MACC team had violated standard operating procedures by notifying Khairy and said if so, the officer responsible should be transferred out of the agency immediately.
He said the MACC Operations Review Panel should take over the investigation instead, noting that the oversight panel is an independent body made up of eminent members of society, NGO representatives and retired top civil servants.
“Any further delay may seriously compromise the investigation and allow the culprits to further destroy important evidence that may implicate more persons in the said scandal,” the DAP man said.
Last Friday, the MACC arrested a 56-year-old senior official from the youth and sports ministry suspected of embezzling an estimated RM100 million over the past six years.
Among the assets seized from the suspect valued at about RM20 million, were 12 vehicles, designer handbags and jewellery. Some 69 bank accounts containing RM8.3 million were also frozen.
Khairy has offered to take full responsibility for the matter, saying it was his duty as minister to make sure that all processes in the ministry are foolproof.
