KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 12 — Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Latheefa Koya today said that she has received numerous memos urging her to reopen cold case files that merited reinvestigation.

Latheefa said her agency would do so in cases of public interest but stressed that this would take time.

“I have been receiving memo after memo on cases I have been told there is no case... but I will have to go back to those files and see if it was properly closed.

“There will be many such cases... everybody seems to have a pet file ... Many people have asked why don’t you deal with Sarawak, why don’t you deal with the Teoh Beng Hock case?

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“There is a lot, which I can’t even mention the list, because so many files and some of it I was told have been closed. I have to check why it has been closed. People keep telling me there is a case, so I have to deal with this,” she told reporters this morning at a forum titled ‘Unmasking the Corrupt Through Beneficial Ownership Transparency’ held at Sheraton Imperial here.

Latheefa also clarified a previous report about the matter, in which she was reported as saying the old cases would be reinvestigated in January.

Today, she insisted that she never set a time frame.

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“I said we open in future, not January... not sure where some reports got January,” she said.

Latheefa also refused to identify which cases would be reviewed, saying this could hurt future investigations.

“I have to deal with this in the most pragmatic and professional way... if I lead you to a hint of the file I don’t know if the file will be missing,” she said.

However, she gave her assurance that such files would be protected.

“I will take action if the files were not closed properly, I will reopen… it’s not about taking action against the officers. I need to see why was it closed and if there is a need, we will open back,” she said, adding that the cold case files can go back to years and as recent as last year.

Yesterday, Bernama reported Latheefa as saying the MACC will reopen cold case files of public interest early next year.