The coroner's court in Kuala Lumpur has found that senior customs officer Ahmad Sarbaini Mohamed fell from the Kuala Lumpur Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) office after being on the ledge of the building.

NONE Coroner Aizatul Akmal Maharani, in his verdict before a packed courtroom today, said the theory that the MACC was involved in his death cannot hold.

"There were no signs of struggle in the incident and the court also dismisses that he committed suicide."

The coroner, returning a verdict of misadventure, said he believes Ahmad Sarbaini, 56, accidentally fell from the building and was conscious during the fall.

"The court also rules that he died instantly in the fall, and he fell feet first, injuring both feet, and suffering severe head injuries."

The court also ruled that the deletion of vital CCTV recordings was an error by the MACC security but was not done on purpose as no one knew of Ahmad Sarbaini's arrival on April 6.

On the issue of foreign DNA, Aizatul said they were found on the deceased's stocking and arm, but it came from other bodies which were in the mortuary for post mortem at the same time as Ahmad Sarbaini.

Aizatul also said although there fingerprints retrieved, they did not match any of the five MACC officers or the deceased.

"It did not assist me in finding answers regarding the death of the deceased. It only showed that the pantry could be accessed by anybody."

Aizatul in laying the facts of the case said the deceased had admitted before MACC officer Sheikh Niza Khairy Sheikh Mohamad on April 4 that he received wang ehsan from two logistic companies.

NONE One came from Wan Zainalabidin Wan Zaki ( right ) of DB Schenker Logistics Bhd.

Ahmad Sarbaini then came again to the MACC office two days later, on April 6, to change his statement and was told that it could only be done if a letter to the MACC was made.

"Sheikh Niza seized his handphone and found (the) Schenker (company's) number which had to be investigated. He called Wan Zainalabidin to come to the MACC Kuala Lumpur," said Aizatul in his written judgement.

"The head of MACC Kuala Lumpur's investigation unit Mohamad Fauzi Hussin asked Ahmad Sarbaini to wait and asked MACC officer Kamal Awang Besar to bring him to the witness room and guard him.

"However, Kamal left Ahmad Sarbaini in the room alone and went to another MACC officer's room. Upon his return, he found the deceased missing and he panicked.

"He, along with other MACC officers, tried to look for him. MACC officer Henritta Serai Andrew Lenggi saw Ahmad Sarbaini's body on the badminton court on the 1st floor."

The coroner ruled that according to testimony Kamal had left Ahmad Sarbaini for five minutes and ruled there were elements of negligence involved in leaving the deceased alone and violating his superior's directive not to leave, which led to the senior customs officer's death.

The court found that Ahmad Sarbaini was still conscious as he fell and found that the cause of his death was due of severe head injuries and positional asphyxia due to falling from the third floor of the MACC office and not due to natural causes.

Hell on earth

The coroner found that the deceased came to MACC on his own free will and nobody had invited or directed him to come.

Aizatul also found from the testimony that the deceased had good character and was well respected among his colleagues. However his admission of accepting the wang ehsan (said to be RM200) had affected his thinking.

"This can be seen when he called Wan Zainalabidin to admit his mistake of involving Schenker in the issue. Ahmad Sarbaini said to his friends that he made his statement under duress ( terdesak ) and he wanted to meet Wan Zainalabidin at a restaurant.

"Wan Zainalabidin did so and described Ahmad Sarbaini was very worried over his admission and resulting in him making a decision to withdraw it. However, the trauma of having spent in the lock-up in Bukit Jalil which he described as "hell on earth" following his earlier detention lingered in his mind."

Aizatul said Ahmad Sarbaini then returned the money and at that time he was thinking that he might be detained following him wanting to change his statement.

He said the security guard at the MACC also described Ahmad Sarbaini as tense while waiting for Shiekh Niza and his concern escalated further when told he could not change his admission.

"However, the situation became tense when Shiekh Niza seized his handphone and the deceased was seen to be holding his head and shaking it (in disbelief). He may have been stressed when he was asked to wait in the witness room.

"Thinking that the seizure of his handphone and the prospect of him being detained again had resulted in him to worrying about being being in "Hell on earth". This resulted in him going out of the building in any way possible."

Optical illusion

Aizatul said since Ahmad Sarbaini was in the room alone, he decided to go out of the pantry window where the court believed that the deceased may have suffered an optical illusion thinking that the badminton court was close by.

"It is important that I state here that the court does not agree with the MACC's counsel that he ran away to meet Wan Zainalabidin to ensure consistency in his statement to the MACC.

"This remains a speculation and is not supported by any facts. I also do not want to touch on the issue of whether or not Ahmad Sarbaini did receive the "wang ehsan" as that would be outside the scope of reference in this court.

"I feel that there is no element of foul play on that fateful day. There is no third party involvement and there is no evidence to suggest there was crime leading to his death," ruled the coroner.

MACC lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah had in his written submission claimed that Ahmad Sarbaini had wanted to meet Wan Zainalabidin to standardise their statement.

This submission was disputed by the deceased widow Masiah @ Maziah Manap and Schenker's lawyers who replied on that point.

Legal teams

Attorney-General's Chambers officer Mohd Abazafree Mohd Abbas assisted in the inquest, while the MACC was represented by Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.

Lawyer Awtar Singh represented Ahmad Sarbaini's family and lawyers Rosli Dahlan and Nadia Marni Mat Zin appeared on a watching brief for multinational DB Schenker (M) Logistics Bhd.

NONE Sarbaini's widow Masiah@ Maziah Manap ( right ) and Social Care Foundation chairperson Robert Phang were also present in court.

One of the highlights of the inquest followed the discovery that the MACC's CCTV was found to be tampered with, as 22 hours of recording - including the period when Ahmad Sarbaini came into the premises - had apparently been deleted.

A total of 34 witnesses testified in the inquest which took 14 days to complete.

The witnesses included two Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia pathologists, Dr Faridah Md Nor and Dr Shahrum Abd Wahid.

Ahmad Sarbaini died after falling down from the third floor of the new Kuala Lumpur MACC office in Jalan Cochrane on April 6.

He was arrested as part of the 3B programme but was later released before returning to the MACC that fateful day .

His friends and family members claimed there was foul play in his death. They said he was a clean officer who had been planning to go on the haj this year with his wife and parents.

Ahmad Sarbaini’s death came in the midst of a royal commission of inquiry into the death of DAP political aide Teoh Beng Hock, with MACC being the focus of attention.

The RCI, in its report , found that Teoh may have committed suicide resulting to his death on July 16, 2009.

Lawyer for Sarbaini's kin: Decision hard to believe

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