Another show from MACC? Wait and see loh...
@ The Malaysian Insider
BN, MP, DAP-aide face charges in major MACC swoop
UPDATED
By Leslie Lau
Consultant Editor
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 — A Barisan Nasional (BN) MP and an aide to a Pakatan Rakyat (PR) Selangor government executive councillor will be among five people to be charged tomorrow for graft, in what is a major move by the MACC to regain public confidence.
A former aide to Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, who was sacked from his post also faces charges.
In a statement this evening, the Malaysian Anti–Corruption Commission (MACC) listed down some details of the five who will be charged in four separate cases.
The MACC, however, did not directly name any of those to be charged tomorrow.
Besides the BN lawmaker and the DAP aide — believed to be Wong Chuan How, the special assistant to Selangor executive councillor Ronnie Liu — the other three are a former aide to the Selangor mentri besar, a company director and an assistant to the BN man.
According to the MACC statement, the BN MP is a former state assemblyman. He was arrested today along with his assistant.
The Malaysian Insider understands that the BN lawmaker is from Umno.
“The former assemblyman who is now a member of parliament was arrested for the offence of presenting invoices with fake details, when he was a state assemblyman in Selangor, to implement a programme that did not occur. The assistant was arrested for conspiring with him,” the MACC said.
The special assistant from DAP, understood to be Wong, will be charged under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1997 and the Penal Code.
He will be charged for presenting fake invoices to the Sepang District Office for the supply of unspecified goods for a 2008 Merdeka programme. The DAP man faces an additional two charges of criminal breach of trust.
According to the MACC, the former assistant to the Selangor MB Khalid was arrested today for an offence under the Penal Code.
He is alleged to have cheated the president of a Selangor government-linked company over the financing of a state function. The sum involved in the alleged cheating is RM50,000.
The fifth person facing a graft charge tomorrow is a company director. He is alleged to have presented fake invoices to the Hulu Langat District Office for the supply of equipment for programmes in the Teratai state constituency.
By charging together politicians from both BN and PR, the MACC appears to be giving the impression that it is even-handed.
The move also comes in the wake of criticisms that the MACC is biased against opposition politicians.
But with the Teoh Beng Hock inquest still continuing, the MACC still faces an uphill battle in trying to prove its independence.
Its predecessor, the Anti Corruption Agency (ACA) had also charged personalities linked to the BN government within months of then-prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi taking office.
Former Cabinet minister Kasitah Gadam and Eric Chia, a businessman with strong ties to the BN government, were both hauled up to face charges.
After lengthy trials, both men were eventually acquitted.
It is likely to take several successful prosecutions before Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s administration can convince a sceptical public.
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