UPDATED
By Syed Jaymal ZahiidKUALA LUMPUR, Feb 8 — The MACC will set up a special operations division to handle high-profile cases, in a move to counter allegations that the anti-graft body is lenient when probing powerful and influential politicians.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Operations Evaluations Panel chief Tan Sri Hadenan Abdul Jalil said the department has set a six-month target to solve investigations under this category.
The setting up of the division is currently awaiting approval from the Public Service Department.
He said the idea was mooted by MACC chief Datuk Abu Kassim who briefed him at the panel's first meeting today.
“We are in a dilemma when it comes to high-profile cases,” Hadenan told a post-panel meeting press conference at the anti-graft body’s academy here.
“I think what we need now is more public relations for the MACC,” he said, referring to the widespread negative perceptions the organisation has received since its establishment last year.
The MACC has fared poorly in public perception and has been hit by persistent accusations of bias against Pakatan Rakyat (PR) while moving at a snail’s pace on complaints made against the ruling coalition.
Its already poor reputation was made worse when a former aide to a Selangor DAP exco was found dead at the Selangor MACC office after he was questioned as a witness in a probe on alleged misappropriation of state funds.
Asked by reporters today about the MACC’s solution to this problem, Hadenan replied that it needed to do more to improve public confidence.
When asked to clarify the status of investigations against prominent lawyer Datuk V.K. Lingam, who allegedly brokered the appointment of judges, he reiterated that the MACC had found no sufficient evidence to link him to the allegations.
“But he is still under investigation for the third charge,” he said, referring to allegations that Lingam allegedly fixed a judgment for a case in which the lawyer was involved.
Hadenan was also asked on the progress of MACC’s investigations of former Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Khir Toyo, who is implicated in a RM23 million mansion scandal, and the RM12 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) fiasco.
“We cannot say anything about the case because the investigation papers have not reached us... the PKFZ case is still under investigation and is in the courts so we can’t say anything,” he replied.
Hadenan said his panel’s view of the MACC’s performance for 2009 was “good”.
He revealed that the MACC probed a total of 939 cases last year of which 633 have been brought to the legal department for further action. He expects 70 per cent from this to end up with prosecutions.
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