A Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officer was quizzed on her superior’s knowledge of Teoh Beng Hock’s death even before the police reached the scene at Plaza Masalam two years ago.

Senior enforcement officer Azian Omar revealed today that Mohd Anuar Ismail, the MACC deputy superintendent probing into alleged misuse of Selangor government funds by Teoh’s employer, Seri Kembangan assemblyperson Ean Yong Hian Wah, was aware of Teoh’s identity although he was not around when the body was discovered.

“I arrived at the office about 1pm that day and soon after one of my colleagues told me that someone was dead on the 5th floor and I approached the window to take a peek,” she said.

Azian said that she had called Mohd Anuar as soon as she was told that there was a dead body, and he responded that the political secretary was “his witness”.

It was first raised by conducting officer Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud, who asked Azian whether she had spoken to Mohd Anuar.

Bar Council lawyer Cheow Wee then asked how did Mohd Anuar know when he was not at the office when Teoh’s body was discovered and reported.

“He knew that the dead person is his witness but he didn’t tell me how he found out,” said the first anti-graft authority witness today.

Azian was among the few officers in the Shah Alam office that day and Selangor MACC operation chief Hairul Ilham Hamzah ordered her to prepare the investigation papers on Mohd Anuar’s behalf on the operation of mismanagement of funds in Selangor.

“I went to Mohd Anuar’s room and I was preparing the report on his computer using the documents on his desk. Later when the police arrived I called him again because the police wanted the deceased’s identification card,” she said.

NONE At that point, commission deputy chief Abu Kassim Mohamed ( left ), then director of investigations Mohd Shukri Abdul, and Pandamaran assemblyperson Ronnie Liu dropped by MACC’s Shah Alam office on July 16, 2009 after hearing about Teoh’s death, she said.

Azian testified that Abu Kassim “appeared angry” and demanded to know what happened.

“But since we all remained mum because none of us were directly involved in the case, he got angry and said ‘don’t tell me you all don’t know anything, tell the truth, don’t hide’,” Azian told the inquiry when probed by MACC lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.

As he was done with his line of questions, Muhammad Shafee said in a couple of days he will furnish the royal commission with documents on telephone calls and SMS exchanges of five MACC investigators traced, without elaborating further.

‘All we are trying to do is to improve your procedures’

The panel’s chief commissioner, Foong, said he was rather “intrigued” by the revelations today.

“You have an officer using another officer’s computer to prepare his investigation papers although she was not directly involved in the investigation,” said Foong.

As one of the inquiry’s terms of reference was to establish whether MACC’s investigation procedures violated human rights, Foong asked Azian whether it is common to hold witnesses until late at night.

However, Azian admitted it is a “common practice” that their witnesses are allowed to return to their homes and come the next day.

As Azian hesitated to go on, Foong reassured her that the panel was not “trying to pinpoint” mistakes at her and only set out to improve the MACC’s procedures.

NONE Another commissioner on the panel, T Selventhiranathan, asked if the MACC had guidelines on how long a witness can be probed and regarding the state of mind of witnesses.

Azian answered “No,” it is only their protocol to allow “suspects to rest” they were tired.

“You treat the suspects better than the witnesses,” exclaimed Foong ( right ).

He then asked her whether she was “angry” for being told to do Mohd Anuar’s work, “You must have scolded him and asked him where he was”.

To this, Azian replied that she was unsure about Mohd Anuar’s location because he kept giving her different answers.

“One second he (Mohd Anuar) said he was at Putrajaya and the next time I called he said he was on the way to the police station... but I don’t know which is which.

“He is of higher rank than me, how I can (question him) and he might have got his directives from the top management,” she added.

Foong again reiterated that the panel did not intend to rap her knuckles but was attempting to improve MACC’s modus operandi.

“You are one of the most helpful witnesses to us so far. You are also very truthful, I think,” he said.

The inquiry resume tomorrow with another MACC enforcement officer Zurinawati Zulkipli, who had handed over Teoh’s backpack to the police.