PKR rep: MACC already probed me on sand issue

Batu Caves PKR assemblyperson Amirudin Shari said the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission had already quizzed him about his links to an alleged sand-mining syndicate in 2010.

Responding to the issue raised again by self-exiled blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin, Amirudin said the anti-graft body had not called him again since he was interrogated in 2010.

"The issue is an old one. I gave my statement to MACC in July 2010 about the supporting letter.

"When I asked them if I needed to come back they said, 'If you want, but we have other cases to probe'.

"They have not called me since," he said when contacted by Malaysiakini yesterday.

In his Thursday posting, Raja Petra accused Amirudin ( left ) and Sri Muda PKR assemblyperson  Shuhaimi Shafiei of sand mining corruption involving a company called Double Dignity (M) Sdn Bhd.

Raja Petra said the duo were directors of the company and had received a monthly allowance of RM5,000.

He also posted a copy of a letter from Amirudin to Kumpulan Semesta Sdn Bhd (KSSB) - the Selangor government company which handles sand mining in the state - to support Double Dignity's application for a sand-mining contract.

"But if you look at the document which Raja Petra 'exposed', it clearly shows that I said I support the application as long as the procedure and laws are followed. I'm clear on that.

"I don't turn down people when they ask for letters of support, and the Pakatan practice is to state that it is on condition that all procedures are met. Some have had applications turned down despite my letter," he said.

Allowance stopped after three months

The document posted by the blogger, popularly known as RPK, shows that Amirudin had above his signature written: "I support with the condition that the applicant follows all procedures."

"I never followed up with KSSB after I signed the support letter. I don't sit on the approval board and don't even know where the KSSB office is," he said, arguing that there was no conflict of interest.

He added that the last he heard from Double Dignity was when he signed that letter in January 2010, and that he officially resigned as director in August, 2011.

"I didn't want to be implicated if they didn't submit their financial report to the Registrar of Companies or anything.

"I only received the RM5,000 allowance for two to three months and I had no information about them after that, nor did I check on them," he said.

However, he did instruct his lawyer to check on the matter when he was called up by MACC, and found that Double Dignity never applied for a sand-mining contract.

KSSB confirmed this in a statement to the press yesterday.

According to Amirudin, he did not know the owners of Double Dignity well and had checked with fellow state representative Mat Shuhaimi before agreeing to be on the board of directors in January 2010.

Bribes for sand?

In his blog post, RPK also published a telephone conversation transcript purportedly between Shuhaimi and an unidentified man.

In the conversation, Shuhaimi had allegedly on Jan 5, 2010, asked for RM50,000 from the man, who would later set up Double Dignity, to ensure a sand-mining contract

He also alleged that it was the Sri Muda representative who had told the man to establish the company.

To support this, Raja Petra ( right ) published a copy of a bank deposit slip for RM50,000 allegedly paid to a company belonging to two close friends of Shuhaimi, and two bankers cheques worth a total RM 37,500.

The blogger added that he is exposing this because he wants to give the Pakatan government more time to convince the rakyat that it is cleaning up its act.

"At least, now, Pakatan Rakyat still has time to do something about it and convince the voters it is running a clean and transparent government. Or are they not running a clean and transparent government?" he asked.

When contacted yesterday, Shuhaimi, who was also investigated by MACC in July 2010, said: "I will not comment until I consult my lawyers."