A week after he resigned as Penanti assemblyperson, Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin broke his silence by claiming he had been cleared of all wrongdoings by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

lim guan eng koh tsu koon penang land scandal issue 220409 fairus khairuddin The former Penang deputy chief minister also confirmed his controversial resignation from the Penanti state seat.

According to Fairus, the "good news" from MACC was the result of the lucky omen brought by the arrival of his son - born today at a hospital in Kuala Lumpur at 11am.

The newly-born baby is the 34-year-old's sixth children - he has four sons and two daughters.

The embattled PKR politician told Malaysiakini that he was officially informed by a senior MACC officer that he had been cleared of all graft investigations against him.

Following the launch of the investigations, Fairus resigned as DCM 1 and relinquished his state portfolios effective April 8.

Fairus, who was among the youngest to hold such a high government post in Penang, said he had no regrets for prematurely quitting his appointed and elected political positions under the Pakatan Rakyat government.

“I will live today to fight tomorrow. I have no self-interests. I am a fighter and will come back to reclaim my positions,” he said over the telephone.

Rumours of Fairus to be charged

Fairus was embroiled in a controversy when PKR Kepala Batas youth leader Amizudin Ahmat lodged a report alleging that the former DCM has taken a RM10,000 bribe from a quarry operator.

Amizudin, who is allegedly linked to several Fairus detractors, also claimed that the former DCM was involved in covering up illegal quarry operations in Seberang Perai.

He first exposed the alleged bribery on Feb 27 at a press conference held at the Seberang Perai Municipal Council (MPSP) office before lodging reports and submitting evidence to substantiate his claims to both MACC and the state PKR leadership.

The evidence was allegedly documents which showed banking transaction of the alleged bribe.

Following this, the MACC had recorded statements from Fairus and his pregnant wife on March 25 in a marathon session in Johor Bahru.

guan eng respond to ong tee keat 020209 02 MACC officials have also taken a statement from Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, DCM 2 Dr P Ramasamy and state executive councillor Phee Boon Poh.

Documents were also seized from Fairus' state office at Komtar, Georgetown.

The anti-corruption commission's aggressive investigations prompted media speculations that Fairus would soon be charged for graft.

At the same time, state PKR set up a four-man special investigation committee headed by Penang speaker Abdul Halim Hussain to probe the graft allegations.

Others in the investigation panel are all assemblypersons - deputy speaker Tan Hock Leong (Machang Bubok), Anwar’s political secretary Sim Tze Tzin (Pantai Jerejak) and Penang Hindu Endowments Board commissioner VS Raveetharan (Batu Uban).

Different versions from Fairus

The committee has submitted a full report on its findings to the party’s top leadership a few days ago.

Fairus has always maintained that he had a clear conscience and did not commit any wrongdoing.

On the RM10,000 that he had received from a quarry operator allegedly through Azimudin himself, Fairus maintained it was a loan to sponsor a trip to London, and that he was planning to settle the sum soon.

Fairus had accompanied Ramasamy for the trip last June to attend an international conference organised by Club de Madrid - an international organisation for all ex-ministers of governments across the globe.

Ramasamy had attended the international conference as part of a state official trip.

However, it is learnt that Fairus had told top leaders of PKR a slightly different story - that the money, which was deposited via a bank account, was a loan from the quarry operator.

Fairus has consistently claimed he was a victim of an internal political conspiracy hatched by jealous rivals within PKR.

“The clearance by MACC exposed all the lies spread by unscrupulous and irresponsible people. God almighty will punish these people one day,” said Fairus.

Penang MACC director Latifah Md Yatim did not answer calls made to her despite numerous attempts by Malaysiakini to reach her.