Underworld links: Calls grow for action against duo

CENTRAL FIGURES … Gani Patail and Musa Hasan

(Harakah Daily) – The allegation that former police chief Musa Hasan and attorney general Abdul Gani Patail were colluding with criminals in what has come to be known as the ‘Copgate’ scandal is a threat to national security, according to PAS vice president Mahfuz Omar.

The Pokok Sena member of parliament joined calls for action to be taken against Gani and Musa to clear the name of the police force.

Mahfuz said if highly placed police officers had links with the notorious underground figures, the country was open to threat.

At the Dewan Rakyat yesterday, Mahfuz together with DAP’s Gobind Singh Deo and PKR’s Sivarasa Rasiah pressed for a response from the government. Home minister Hishamuddin Hussein however suggested that the allegation, raised by former Commercial Crimes Investigation Department head Ramli Yusuf, be channelled instead to the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission.

Today, the debate went up a notch after Hishamuddin informed the House that the MACC had declared ‘no case’ against the duo.

“That’s the old investigation. Now there are new evidences, new witnesses who have declared their willingness to step forward to testify, but there has not been a single action,” said Gobind.

Ramli (above) had claimed that Gani had in 2007 ‘fixed’ him for taking action against an underworld leader, Goh Cheng Poh, or nicknamed ‘Tengku Goh’. This followed an earlier exposure by blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin who published several statutory declarations from police whistleblowers who pointed to the involvement of Musa with underground criminals.

Ramli said the CCID’s action based on the complaints was interrupted by Gani who used the then Anti-Corruption Agency to take over the case. Armed with ACA’s documents, whistleblowers in the police force whose information led to Goh’s arrest were hunted down.

One such whistleblower recently related to Malaysiakini how ACA officers visited his home and told him that it was “a pity for Tengku Goh to be thrown in a Malay kampung, and this was discriminatory (aniaya) to Tengku”.

“The officer also asked whether I knew Tengku was betrayed because he is a friend of IGP Musa. I did not know whether this was a serious or funny question. This got me worried,” he said.

Last week, a proposed tribunal which Ramli had agreed to testify in had been shot down by prime minister Najib Razak, and many speculated that Gani himself had advised the former to arrive at such a decision.

L-R: Mahfuz and Gobind Singh

Backing Gobind in parliament, Mahfuz said Ramli would not make an allegation without proofs.

“As a former senior cop, he would not come forward empty-handed. He appeared with documents. He came with courage. He knew the risks,” stressed Mahfuz, joined by Gobind who said the reluctance to act on  the part of the government suggested that Ramli’s claim was true.

Meanwhile, Ramli today lashed out at Hishamuddin’s decision to pass the buck to MACC, describing the move absurd as he had accused MACC, then the ACA, of framing him.

“The MACC was also the agency that cleared Musa and Gani of many other allegations, including the AG’s refusal to prosecute [former MAS boss] Tajudin Ramli or his (Gani’s) controversial Hajj trip with a proxy of Tajudin.

“How could the Home minister make such a proposition, as if mocking the criminal justice system?” he asked, as quoted by Malaysiakini.