MACC: The Destroyer of our Public Institutions

by Din Merican

Today is the International Labour Day, also known as May Day, celebrated throughout the world by governments, trade and labour unions, human rights organisations, professional bodies, socio-cultural bodies and political parties. Most of these organizations will mark this day with rallies, seminars, discussions and cultural programmes.

Labor Day: Celebration of Economic and Social Rights of Workers

Labor Day started as a celebration to recognize the economic and social rights of workers. Today, these rights include issues of social dignity of the workers. Generally, government employees are paid less than their counterparts in the private sector. Thus, dignity is very important for these government employees because those who serve in the government are expected to be motivated by some higher ideals other than money. Thus, they are called public or civil servants. They serve the public.

As implementers of government policies intended for the good administration of the society, they are the custodians and trustees of our public institutions. To ensure that is the case, these civil servants have to take oaths of office and oaths of secrecies. By these oaths, they are bound to carry out their duties and functions in accordance with the Rule of Law.

MACC: Guardian of the integrity and dignity of public servants? NO.

There will always be rogues in any organization, including in the government institutions. These rogues will breach duties and trust for many reasons. Inevitably, the main reason why public duties are violated is due to greed and corruption. To keep this in check, we have the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC). But sadly, the MACC has shown itself to be the biggest rogues of all.

MACC officers have been, shown time and again, to flout every rule book on law, honesty, integrity and transparency. The MACC has become not only destructive to itself but also destructive to the public and to other government institutions. Am I too harsh on the MACC?

Let us consider some known facts.

The MACC was complicit in the plot to bring down the opposition controlled Pakatan Rakyat (PR) State Government of Perak. The MACC was also seen instrumental in trying to topple the PR Selangor state government over an allegation of some measly RM2,400/-. They forced a young political activist, Teoh Beng Hock (TBH) to be interrogated throughout the night until the wee hours of the morning and he died while their custody.

It may be Divine Will that Teoh’s death would serve a higher cause. The noble cause of exposing what the MACC is or has become. This can be clearly seen when the TBH Royal Commission of Inquiry (TBH RCI) exposed the MACC to be an oppressive agency when they target certain individuals or organisations.

The Royal Commission of Inquiry of Death of Teoh Beng Hock

The TBH RCI has thus far exposed that:

a)    MACC officers do not follow the Criminal Procedure Code which is the cardinal law on criminal processes;
b)    MACC officers do not even follow the provisions of the MACC Act when conducting searches, seizing documents, interviewing witnesses, interrogating suspects;
c)    MACC officers fabricate investigation diaries and rewrite them to support the story they want to tell;
d)    MACC officers put words into witnesses’ and suspects’ mouths;
e)    MACC officers watch pornography while interrogating and recording statements;
f)   MACC officers continuously lie by “selective amnesia” as pointed out by Justice Tan Sri  James Foong;
g)    MACC Directors like Hishamudin Hashim would direct subordinates to practise cover ups as admitted by MACC Assistant Superintendent Azeem Hafeez Jamaluddin;
h)    MACC did not have any basis to launch an investigation into YB Ean Yong’s constituency but still did;
i)  Commissioner Datuk T. Selventhiranathan found that Hishamuddin Hashim had lied when he claimed ignorance of police reports against MACC officers for physical abuse whereas there were 59 police reports between 2005 and 2010. 21 out of those 59 police reports were against Hishamudin’s Selangor branch.
j)    Shah Alam police CID chief DSP Kamaruddin Ismail had testified that the MACC had refused to cooperate with Police investigations;
k)   MACC Officer Azeem also disclosed that MACC prosecution head Datuk Abdul Razak Musa, DPP Kevin Morais, Dato’ Shukri and MACC Chief Commissioner Datuk Seri Abu Kassim were complicit in coaching MACC witnesses on how to answer questions during the Inquest and the RCI.

Dato’ Ramli Yusuff and Lawyer Rosli Dahlan: Victims of MACC Lies

These are very troubling revelations. They reaffirmed what I have been saying all these while in my court reports on the trials of Dato’ Ramli Yusuff and Lawyer Rosli Dahlan. Both of them have accused the MACC of fixing them up and fabricating evidence. I witnessed the cross-examination of DPP Kevin Morais by Dato’ Shafee Abdullah and Dato’ Kumaraendran. I recounted in my writings all the occasions when Kevin Morais and the other MACC witnesses were caught lying at every turn. Yet, Kevin is still a senior DPP, a cancer which remains on the system. The TBH RCI has now confirmed that the lies by the MACC are both systemic and systematic.

MACC and the Customs Officers’ Union

That brings me to the rebuff made by the Customs Officers’ Union, Ibrahim Ahmad, against the MACC for sensationalizing the MACC’s purported major crackdown on the Royal Malaysian Customs. The MACC Investigations Director Datuk Mustafar had declared that 62 Customs Officers including two Directors have been arrested, 150 bank accounts frozen including several overseas; raids of over 100 premises nationwide involving 84 forwarding agents and 25 Customs premises.

It was so sensational because the MACC gave the impression that the Royal Malaysian Customs had fleeced the government of RM 108 billion and had recovered gold bars and bags of cash amounting to several millions from these Customs Officers and that that these officers were involved in various offences under the Customs Act, the Income Tax Act, the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Act and the MACC Act.

Then on April 6, Customs Assistant Director, Ahmad Sarbani, died while under the MACC’scustody. In a repeat of the TBH case, the MACC quickly denied that Ahmad Sarbani was in their custody. There are now two ghosts haunting the MACC – Teoh’s and Ahmad Sarbani’s. They are haunting the MACC for lying about the circumstances of their death and for maligning them with sensational stories of ill gotten wealth. Neither Teoh nor Ahmad Sarbani have much wealth. If they did, the MACC would have already sensationalized the story and smeared them further.

MACC destroyed the career and life of Dato’ Ramli Yusuff

That was the same tactic that the MACC had used against Dato’ Ramli Yusuff. The MACCleaked to the press that Dato’ Ramli is a crooked cop with RM 27 million worth of assets and that money was hidden with Lawyer Rosli Dahlan. But they never charged Dato’ Ramli for RM27 million because, in truth, there was none. Instead, the principal charge against Dato’ Ramli was for a “joy ride” in a Police Cessna whereas he was on official duty in full uniform. Just by that false story, the MACC caused Dato Ramli to be suspended as a three star Police Commissioner. His career and life was destroyed in one instance. Until now, Dato Ramli has not been reinstated. He had lost his salary, pension, privileges and most of all his dignity because of the falsehood by the MACC.

MACC smeared the name of Ahmad Sarbani

That is the same fate suffered by Ahmad Sarbani’s family now. The MACC smeared his name as a corrupt Customs Officer by arresting him. When he died under their custody, they popularized the story that he committed suicide because he was depressed due to his deep involvement in the corruption. The police will now be used to support that suicide theory.

What happened to the RM 108 billion story? Why has the MACC not disclosed if Ahmad Sarbani had unusual wealth since he is supposed to have stashed hundreds of millions of that RM 108 billion? In a slow about turn, the MACC has reduced the sensational amount from RM108 billion to RM 3 billion and now calls it the 3B case. That is how deceitful the MACC is!

To divert attention from the Ahmad Sarbani’s death, the MACC has now made the Immigration Department and the Domestic Trade Ministry as the next sensational target. Just read yesterday’s and today’s main stream newspapers which gave prominence to the MACC’s 2010 Annual Report of corruption by Immigration officers at entry points. The Report cited Selangor MACC’s intelligence work which concluded that the country lost RM86.4mil in annual revenue due to corrupt practices by Immigration officers and that MACC had arrested 11 Immigration officers and frozen their assets worth a total of RM117,400/-.

MACC practises Double Standards

It is glaring that 11 Immigration officers with their assets totaling RM 117,400/- (approximately RM10,500/- per person) are deemed excessive and thus frozen . Yet, A-G Gani Patail whose Haj trip cost more than RM200,000/- is not deemed excessive. It is glaring that AG Gani can go on that Haj trip with Tajudin Ramli’s proxy and even shared rooms with Shahidan Shafie, once charged for taking bribes, and the MACC did not consider that to be improper or untoward.

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