Pol-sec said to have amassed wealth under probe

By Lourdes Charles, The Star

A political secretary to a senior minister who is said to have amassed millions of ringgit in properties over a short period of time is under investigation by the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission.

It is learnt that investigators have obtained an order to seize and freeze several of the properties — including luxury cars and houses — besides freezing bank accounts to facilitate investigations under the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

Sources said the commission’s seizure list included at least four luxury cars and four houses which they believed belonged to the political secretary who is in his late 30s.

They said the commission was investigating the purchased properties — all in the Klang Valley — allegedly obtained from kickbacks received from the approval of several multi-million ringgit projects.

It is believed several of the properties seized were under the names of people believed to be proxies for the political secretary, and investigators would be calling on the people whose names were registered as owners.

Sources also said the investigators had identified several other people linked to the case and would also be calling them soon to assist in investigations.

Sources said a special team from the commission’s Putrajaya office started investigations about three weeks ago following information received that the political secretary was living well beyond his means.

It is learnt that investigation into the political secretary is among a few high profile cases the commission is investigating following reports and information provided by the public.

The commission’s officers declined to comment when contacted.