MACC chief claims he'd have stood up to Taib

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Abu Kassim Mohamed said he would have stood up to Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud who had criticised the graft buster.

"Like in the video , when Taib said we were naughty and dishonest , I wanted to stand up and respond to him.

"But my public relation officers said Tan Sri (Taib) had already explained that he was not referring to MACC.

"If not, I'd tell him to let the law to take its course," said Abu Kassim ( far right in photo ) in a stern voice during a forum at the 7th Annual Malaysian Student Leaders Summit in Kuala Lumpur today.

Earlier, to kick off the session, a video of Taib by KiniTV was played where the Sarawak chief minister was asked if he would cooperate with the MACC to which he replied: "They do not deserve my cooperation as they have been naughty and dishonest."

However, Taib's office later issued a statement denying that he was referring to the MACC.

"I'm used to people calling us naughty, but we seldom get people calling us dishonest. We are busybodies (jaga tepi kain), that's why we are called naughty," he quipped.

Abu Kassim reiterated that the MACC investigation against Taib ( below ) was still ongoing.

'Donations must go direct to party'

He also appeared to weigh into the case against Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman who was embroiled in controversy when his close associate was caught by authorities with RM40 million in Singapore currency while attempting to leave Hong Kong.

Without mentioning names, Abu Kassim said the MACC has requested the government to introduce a law where political donations can only be deposited into party accounts.

"The government has agreed to this in principle," he said.

Abu Kassim said this was important as many "big fishes" use "political donations" as a defence when asked to explain large amounts of money in their possession.

"Whenever we investigate, they claim to hold it (money) in trust for the party and unfortunately the party would also say ‘yes, it is being held in trust’," he said.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz had in October last year said that the RM40 million was not for Musa but was a cash donation for Umno.

Abu Kassim said the MACC's performance had improved in the last four years, with conviction rates increasing from 60 percent to 85 percent.

Also present at the session was Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) president Akbhar Satar and Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli.

'Prosecution powers'

Rafizi said he understood the MACC's difficulties as it investigates all corruption allegations but many are later marked as "no further action" (NFA) when they reach the Attorney-General's Chambers.

"I would like the MACC to release the numbers in cases where investigation was made against public servants and people in government and how many of these were then marked as NFA by the attorney-general.

"This will show us where the buck lies," he said, adding that he hoped the MACC would one day be granted prosecution powers, bypassing the AG’s Chambers.

Rafizi said that the public perception of corruption will continue to persist so long as they see those in political office living beyond their means.

To this, Abu Kassim said there are provisions in the law since the days of MACC's predecessor, the ACA, which allowed for the anti-graft body to ask a person to declare their asset if they have "unexplained property".

"But the court later declared that it can only be exercised if there is reason someone is involved in corruption, and it is very difficult (for MACC) to prove that," he said.

However, Abu Kassim said the MACC will seek legislative improvements and urged the public to support the commission.