JOHOR BARU, Nov 17 – PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli has locked on to Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Tan Sri Azam Baki for perpetrating what he called political persecution after it raided his data firm Invoke Solutions Sdn Bhd twice in the last two days.
The Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate for the Pandan federal seat in Selangor in the 15th general election said he holds Azam responsible for the MACC’s dubious manners during the searches as well as the interrogation of his staff.
“Saturday we vote. After we win the elections, we will look for Azam Baki Insya Allah,” Rafizi said in his speech last night before a thousand-strong crowd that turned out for the PH “Kita Boleh” election rally at Dataran Larkin here.
“I know Azam Baki is looking at this. I hope when Pakatan Harapan wins, we look for you, you won’t blame your brother again,” the politician added.
His barbed jibe at Azam referred to the anti-corruption buster’s explanation when he was publicly accused of proxy trading when it emerged that he owned close to two million shares in a Bursa Malaysia-listed company last December.
Azam explained that the shares were bought in 2015-2016 through the Bursa account held by his brother Nasir but maintained that he did nothing wrong.
In January, the Securities Commission Malaysia also said it could not “conclusively establish” any wrongdoing by Azam after completing its inquiry into the matter.
In his speech, Rafizi alleged that the MACC raids on Invoke were conducted at the behest of the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition and its lynchpin Umno, in an attempt to prevent him from making a parliamentary comeback through the general election.
He vented his fury at having his Invoke staff harassed over his political affiliation by law enforcers when they were not involved.
“You are deliberately detaining my staff, you are bullying them, you are asking them nonsense,” said Rafizi, adding that he sent a lawyer to Invoke Solutions on Tuesday that prompted MACC to raid the office for a second time yesterday.
“If you want to interrogate, ask for documents or seize anything, please follow the law,” he said suggestively, hinting at irregularities in the way the MACC raids were conducted.
Rafizi claimed the MACC second raid yesterday was prompted by a report filed by a non-governmental organisation against him for questionable assets, calling the commission to especially investigate Invoke.
Rafizi had declared RM18,851,350 in net assets as at October 31 as part of PKR’s attempt to show a reformist image and transparency in its candidates running for public office.
Early voting for GE15 took place on Tuesday. The rest of Malaysians aged 18 and above will head to the polls this Saturday.
