KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 2 ― The arrest of a nephew of Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azmin Ali in connection with an illegal sand-mining case is not politically motivated, according to national chief graftbuster Tan Sri Dzulkifli Ahmad.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief maintained that its actions are purely based on information received and asked the public not to jump to conclusions when investigations are still ongoing, news portal Malaysiakini reported this evening.
“Any action that we take is based on information that we receive, and if there is (a) basis for the information, we will conduct an investigation. So it is free of political interference, or the so-called sabotage.
“I want to stress this; we should be professional. Let MACC perform its tasks and responsibilities. Let us complete the investigation; the investigation is ongoing, they had been remanded, and we will wait and see what happens next week,” Dzulkifli was quoted telling reporters at MACC headquarters in Putrajaya when asked to comment on allegations of political meddling.
The Selangor Mentri Besar’s Office confirmed last Thursday that Azmin’s nephew was among four people remanded until December 6 for alleged involvement in illegal sand mining in Kajang since 2014.
It is understood that those arrested are two sand mining company directors, an advertising company’s worker, and a site manager.
The MACC also froze RM4 million belonging to a company following the arrests.
Azmin has also been reported denying allegations of nepotism in awarding a sand mining contract to the nephew in question.
Instead, he claimed there is a conspiracy against the PKR-DAP-PAS Selangor government, noting that some Umno-linked bloggers had released information about the case even before the MACC took action.
