MACC top gun quits citing ‘failure’ in outcome of probe

MACC’s Special Operations Division director Bahri Mohamad Zain feels he has ‘sinned’ against Malaysians for failure to take the case to court despite the evidence uncovered.

(FMT) – Disappointed with the outcome of the investigation into SRC International (SRC), a senior Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officer tendered his resignation last week.

Bahri Mohamad Zain, who was the director of MACC’s Special Operations Division (SOD), said he felt as if he had “sinned against 30 million Malaysians”.

Bahri played a pivotal role in the investigation into SRC International (SRC), a subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Bahri, 57, told FMT he had chosen to retire three years early as he was disappointed that despite the evidence uncovered, the case did not go to court.

“I’m not only disappointed, but I also felt like I had sinned against 30 million Malaysians when the SRC case could not be taken to court,” he told FMT this morning.

He said a large sum of public money had been embezzled but no one had been brought to justice for it.

SRC was established in 2011 to explore international strategic investments in the energy field.

It was a subsidiary of the embattled state-owned 1MDB, until it was moved under the purview of the Finance Ministry led by Najib.

It had been reported that SRC had funnelled RM42 million into Prime Minister Najib Razak’s personal bank account through two companies – Gandingan Mentari Sdn Bhd and Ihsan Perdana Sdn Bhd – in two transactions in 2014 and 2015.

Exactly a year ago, Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali cleared Najib of the SRC case and the RM2.6 billion which was found in the prime minister’s accounts.

Also, in a written reply to Wong Chen (PKR-Kelana Jaya) in Parliament in March last year, Najib had said SRC International had no record of the purported transfer of RM42 million into his (Najib’s) personal bank account.