MACC had to withdraw vexatious and fundamentally flawed application, says lawyer Rosli Dahlan

Rosli Dahlan

1. On Oct 6, 2023, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) attempted to conduct an illegal raid at the law office of Rosli Dahlan Saravana Partnership (RDS). I notified the MACC officers of the illegality of their conduct under Section 46 of their own MACC Act.

2. News of the MACC raid was given wide publicity by the mass media in an orchestrated move to create a false public narrative that RDS was under investigation for corruption against the firm’s success in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) [asset] recovery efforts.

3. On Oct 7, RDS issued a press statement that the MACC raid was illegal. This received strong support from the Malaysian Bar Council, which also issued a long statement on Oct 13 rebuking the MACC’s unprofessional conduct.

4. On Oct 11, the MACC filed an application purportedly to comply with the provisions of Section 46 of the MACC Act. The MACC application was defective in many aspects. The mere filing of this court application itself was an admission that the attempted raid on Oct 6 was illegal. The Bar Council gave notice to appear as amicus curiae (a friend of the court) against the MACC application.

5. The MACC application named me as the first respondent and RDS as the second respondent. Singling me out as the first respondent was malicious, done to smear my reputation by making me the principal suspect of this false corruption investigation.

6. On Oct 27, I filed my affidavit in reply, which exposed numerous errors, inaccuracies and falsehoods by the MACC, exposing an elaborate conspiracy to injure the firm and defame me to bring us into public odium and scandal. I also filed an application to strike out the MACC application.

7. The court directed that my striking out application will be heard first, and for the MACC to file its responses by certain specified dates. The court also set a hearing date of Jan 17, 2024. This must have caused concern to the MACC, as its falsehoods and false investigation used as an instrument of oppression against my firm and I would be exposed in the hearing.

8. On Dec 4, several news portals reported that the MACC had notified the court that it wished to withdraw its application against RDS and I without giving any reasons. This morning (Wednesday, Dec 6), the High Court allowed the withdrawal, and struck out the MACC application. This was after weeks of maligning me publicly.

9. From the beginning of this episode, I have stated that the MACC’s actions against my firm and I were scandalous, frivolous, vexatious, libellous and fundamentally flawed. It is obvious that the MACC has decided to discontinue a proceeding that it had initiated unwittingly to its own detriment, and to the prejudice of the country.

10. All these shenanigans against my firm and I must stop. There is still much to be done to recover the losses from the 1MDB scandal. For the sake of the country, the Ministry of Finance and agencies of the task force must behave rationally, and not jeopardise the country’s interest in making irresponsible statements and allegations that can be capitalised by the counterparties.

11. As a patriot, I remain committed to rendering all assistance needed by the government to resolve the 1MDB fiasco, and erase this shameful episode from the financial history of our country.