Azam Baki denies knowing charges against Mara Corp trio dropped

PUTRAJAYA – The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commision (MACC) has denied knowledge of any move by the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) to drop the charges framed against senior Majlis Amanah Rakyat Corporation Sdn Bhd (Mara Corp) officers for alleged abuse of power and management impropriety.

MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki said that investigators had completed their probe into the case and proposed that several parties be charged based on their findings. 

“Until now, there is no information from anyone such as the AGC that the case (suspects) will not be pursued in court, so I cannot comment on the cases not being brought to court. 

“However, like I have mentioned, our role is to investigate, and in our view there were statements recorded that sufficiently warranted our proposal to charge the implicated individuals,” he told reporters this afternoon. 

Azam made these comments after attending the MACC Media Awards ceremony held at their headquarters in Putrajaya here this morning. 

He was responding to a report quoting sources within the AGC as saying that charges against at least three of the senior Mara Corp officers implicated in corruption would be dropped. 

The report by Malay-language portal Malaysia Gazette said the source cited a potential lack of evidence as a probable reason behind the move.

This comes even though MACC submitted its investigation papers to the AGC as early as April with no charges framed against the suspects yet. 

Azam had also during that time expressed his confidence in the suspects being charged in court for abuses of power and mismanagement within Mara Corp. 

Azam’s deputy, deputy chief commissioner (operations) Datuk Seri Ahmad Khusairi Yahaya, had also mentioned several days prior that investigations into the case had zoomed in on alleged misuse of Mara Corp corporate credit cards.

Additionally, Azam included how cases under MACC had achieved a conviction rate of 91.1%, surpassing the targeted threshold of 75% successful convictions set by the United Nations Convention Against Corruption. 

He attributed the high conviction rate to MACC’s investigation methods to obtain and verify information and leads, and also to its supposed systemic approach towards debunking cases. 

“Another reason that I see as a contributing factor to the high conviction rate is how specific courts have been tasked with exclusively handling only corruption cases so these cases are eventually sped up. 

“Also, the judges are also well-versed in laws related to corruption,” he added. – The Vibes, June 14, 2022