The late Selangor Customs deputy chief Ahmad Sarbaini Mohamed was the first person to confess to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to taking a bribe, one of its investigators, Abdul Ghani Ali, said today.

"In my 20 years of service, this is first time any person has ever confessed (to) taking a bribe," the 57-year-old investigations officer (IO) said in reply to questions from lawyer Rosli Dahlan, who is holding a watching brief for Schenker Logistics (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd.

ahmad sarbaini inquest 130711 abdul ghani ali Ghani ( left ) agreed with Rosli that Sarbaini's forthcoming was "strange" in his three decades of experience with the MACC.

Sarbaini was found dead on the badminton court on the first floor of the Kuala Lumpur MACC building located on Jalan Cochrane on April 6, shortly after he had been escorted into a witness holding room.

The inquest before coroner Aizatul Akmal Maharani seeks to clarify the circumstances of the death, attributed to a fall from a window at a third-floor pantry.

Yesterday, MACC assistant superintendent Sheikh Niza Khairy Sheikh Mohamad testified that Sarbaini confessed to him on April 4 about receiving wang ehsan or "goodwill payments" from two forwarding agents.

According to Sheikh Niza, who was also the officer who arrested Sarbaini on April 2, Sarbaini made the confession while they were having a "friendly chat" on April 4, saying he accepted between RM50 and RM100 a month from a Schenker Logistics officer, Wan Zainal Abidin Wan Zaki, and between RM30 and RM200 a month from a Top Mark Freight & Shipping Sdn Bhd officer identified only as Ah Seng.

However, Sarbaini had, on April 6, just hours before his death, wanted to have his statement changed, but the details are not known.

NONE However, MACC investigations unit head Mohd Fauzi Husin had testified earlier that according to Sheikh Niza, Sarbaini ( left) wanted to retract his confession, but Sheikh Niza denied him permission to do so.

"Then, could it be that the confession from the deceased (Sarbaini) was obtained by trickery?" asked Rosli, to which Ghani said he was not sure.

The lawyer then asked if "trickery" was a method used in MACC's interrogations, to which Ghani replied, "maybe".

Rosli: Could this be the reason the deceased wanted to change or amend his statement?

Ghani: I'm not sure.

Rosli: Fauzi didn't allow the decease to change his statement, but you were of the opinion that it can be done as long as he (Sarbaini) presented a representation? Was there a different opinion between the both of you?

Ghani:

Yes.

Ghani also said Sarbaini only wanted to change his statement referring to Schenker Logistics, but did not explain why.

However, Ghani added, at that point there was no evidence to pinpoint that Sarbaini had accepted "goodwill payments" from Schenker Logistics.

NONE Earlier, Sarbaini's family counsel Awatar Singh accused Ghani of "knowing what had happened" to Sarbaini the day he fell, citing, a police report lodged by Sarbaini's wife, Maziah Manap ( right ), in which she said Ghani knew what resulted in Sarbaini's death.

Awatar then read out from Maziah's police report: "I asked him, what would you do if you were me. Would you leave this to Allah, or would you take action? He (Ghani) hesitated, and then he said " Bukan saya (tapi) orang saya " (it wasn't me, it was my men)", and went on to ask Ghani what did he meant by " Bukan saya (tapi) orang saya " .

Ghani denied knowing anything about this and objected, saying that Maizah was "inaccurate" in her police report.

What he meant, he explained, was that Sarbaini had come to see another officer, referring to Sheikh Niza, and not him.

He also disagreed with Awatar's suggestion that he was now evading giving an accurate answer because he was afraid of "getting trapped".

Ghani contradicts Zainal's testimony

Meanwhile, MACC lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, who cross-examined the witness after lunch break, asked Ghani to explain the testimony of Wan Zainal Abidin Wan Zaki, a senior executive of Schenker Logistics (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd.

Zainal told the coroner’s court last week that he was ordered “to keep to the story” on how Sarbaini died.        

“Abdul Ghani told me, if anybody were to ask, I just have to say Sarbaini fell to his death from a window,” said the freight forwarding company senior executive.

This was however, vehemently denied by Ghani, who fired back that he did not know Zainal well and denied detailing the interaction between him and Sarbaini to Zainal.

“To me, I’m not suppose to tell him (Zainal) anything in detail. Who is Zainal that I should relate this to him? I just met him on that day.

“If he wants to make up stories then it is up to him,” said Ghani before he was dismissed, after two day of giving evidence.

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