KUALA LUMPUR – All related documents belonging to a frozen meat import company, believed to be involved in the meat cartel scandal, were seized two weeks ago, said Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) deputy chief commissioner (operations) Datuk Seri Ahmad Khusairi Yahaya.
He said MACC will go through all seized documents dating back to 2015, including the company’s accounts, to track down the mastermind and enforcement personnel involved in protecting the activities.
“The investigation into this case is conducted under Section 18 and Section 17 (a) of the MACC Act,” he added.
On the detention of two directors and two employees of frozen meat import companies, Khusairi said the products were imported illegally from several countries.
“The focus of the MACC investigation is on two aspects. Firstly, the offence of submitting false declarations in Customs Form 1 by the import companies and agents handling the process.
“The second one is to examine if any form of bribe was paid through the accounts of the companies involved.”
Khusairi said in every MACC investigation, elements of secrecy and surprise are crucial if a case gets widespread media exposure.
“It seems to give them (bribe giver and receiver) a chance to dispose of all the evidence.
“Being quiet does not mean that agencies involved in the investigation are not taking action. Collecting evidence requires time and careful analysis.”
He said if MACC publicly discusses an ongoing probe too much, it will complicate the investigation and give a negative perception to the community.
He said the four suspects arrested yesterday by Johor MACC have been remanded for four days from today for further investigation under Section 117 of the Criminal Procedure Code. – Bernama, January 4, 2021
