A team of Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers raided the office of Selangor executive councillor Yaakob Sapari at the state secretariat in Shah Alam this afternoon.

NONE The five officers led by Premraj Victor arrived at about 12.45pm and then proceeded to Yaacob’s office and seized several files.

According to sources, a MACC report has been lodged against an aide, Hussein Ahmad ( right, centre ), with regard to his alleged involvement in corruption over the sale of sand.

Yaakob (below) is the exco for agriculture, modernisation, national resources management and entrepreneur development.   

A spokesperson with the Selangor media secretariat confirmed that the MACC investigation is linked to the sale of sand.

NONE Also on scene were state legal adviser Salim Bashir and Assocation of Pakatan Rakyat Special Officers chairperson Razak Ismail.

It is believed that the incident is the outcome of disagreement over the management of the state- owned Semesta Group which oversees the sale of sand in Selangor.

Before Pakatan Rakyat took over the Selangor government, it was claimed that the theft of sand was rampant.

This resulted in Semesta Group being appointed to oversee the sale of sand. The group falls under the purview of Yaakob, under his natural resource management portfolio..

However, it is understood that there are still allegations of corruption connected with the sand deal, including some by Pakatan assemblypersons.

PKR’s Bukit Antarabangsa representative Azmin Ali had, during a state assembly seating, chastised Semesta for its lacklustre performance.

NONE Yaakob revealed that the investigators are not only looking at approval of the sale of sand, but also at details of his visit to China last November.

“The officers took away three documents - the company profile for Semesta Group, documentation on my visit to Hang Zhou and Yiew and my visit to Beijing last week.”

It is understood that Hussein had accompanied Yaakob to China.

Yaakob labelled MACC’s action as “intentionally trying to embarrass me”.

Arrest warrant served

At the time of writing, three other state excos - Ronnie Liu, Elizabeth Wong and Dr Xavier Jayakumar - are in Yaakob’s office in a show of support.

NONE The officers recorded a statement from Hussein before serving him with an arrest warrant and transporting him to the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya for further interrogation. Yaakob and Salim accompanied him.

Bukit Lanjan assemblyperson Elizabeth Wong ( below, far left ) said in a Twitter message that the officers had asked if there is a back door they could use to leave the building.

NONE She rebuked them for being cowards, commenting that if they were brave enough to come through the front door, they should be brave enough to leave the same way.

A minor commotion ensued when a security officer told the investigation team to fill in the visitor’s log book for Yaakob’s office, prior to their departure.

They initially refused to do so but, after being harangued by Yaakob, they filled the logbook.

This is the latest in a series of raids on offices of Selangor exco members, and the third time a state employee has been taken for interrogation.

On July 16 last year, DAP political aide Teoh Beng Hock was found dead outside the Selangor MACC office after being questioned overnight as a witness. An inquest is underway.