Ex-top cop Ramli testifies on Gani-Musa 'complot'

Eight years after he was suspended from the police force, former Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Ramli Yusof finally had his day in court.

He testified on how former Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan, attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail and the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) allegedly conspired to fix him at the Kuala Lumpur High Court today.

Ramli, 65, who was the number three man in the police force then, told the court today that he would have been the inspector-general of police today, if they had not conspired against him.

"I believe Musa (photo) and Gani targeted me for elimination from the hierarchy of the police force. I was next in line to be the IGP.

"At that time, I was the seniormost director (in Bukit Aman) of the police force and (had) informal indications from the Police Commission that I would ascend to be the Deputy IGP and then in line for the IGP's post," he said in his witness statement.

He testified today that Musa and Gani's animosity against him started from the Anwar Ibrahim black-eye incident in 1998, when he did not want to partake in fabricating evidence.

"Musa was a junior officer under me for six years, and I did not want to conspire with the two to fabricate evidence in the black-eye incident. That was the beginning," he said during cross-examination by senior lawyer Cecil Abraham.

Cecil is acting on behalf of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

"I refused to do it as they (Musa and Gani) told me to lodge a police report that Anwar inflicted the injuries on his own.

"I told Musa and Gani (photo) off as they were also on the 30 ^th floor of Bukit Aman on the night Anwar was assaulted.

"I also warned the investigator of the black-eye incident, Mat Zain Ibrahim, to be careful of Musa and the possibility that he wanted to fabricate evidence," he added.

Ramli took the stand after the High Court allowed his witness statement to be used in the RM50 million suit by lawyer Rosli Dahlan against MACC's predecessor, the ACA, for wrongful arrest and detention.

Justice Su Geok Yiam dismissed the objection raised against Ramli testifying in the suit.

Ramli was suspended from the force after he was charged under the Penal Code and Anti-Corruption Act 1997 on Nov 1, 2007, but was acquitted of the charges.

Involvement in MAS

In his testimony today, he named various occasions where he had run-ins with Musa and Gani including when he was the CCID director in 2007.

This was when he was asked by the then Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (photo) to re-open investigations into Malaysia Airlines former chairperson Tajudin Ramli, he said.

"The CCID concluded that there was potential criminal conduct by Tajudin and that he should have been prosecuted.

"A MAS board member asked me to brief Abdullah, which I did, and I said there was basis to prosecute Tajudin (photo) for various crimes," he said

"In the meeting with PM, I said that if the attorney-general was reluctant to prosecute Tajudin, the CCID would have the necessary resources to conduct the prosecution.

"I also sent a letter to Abdullah on March 26, 2007 (for Tajudin to be prosecuted)," he said.

He said this was seen as undermining Gani, who proposed no action taken against Tajudin.

No action was taken against Tajudin, but as a result of the recommendation made, Ramli was asked by the ACA in July 2007 to declare his assets, he testified.

The MACC previously investigated Gani after reports surfaced that he performed the haj with Shahidan Shafie, a confidante of Tajudin, but Gani was cleared of wrongdoing.

Rift deepens over Copgate

Ramli testified that the rift between him and the duo deepened further when he headed the taskforce to curb the money-lending syndicate, leading to the arrest of kingpin Goh Cheng Poh, or Tengku Goh, in Tangkak Johor. This episode was later dubbed the Copgate affair .

The fissure widened when an anonymous letter was passed to then Deputy Home and Internal Security Minister Johari Baharom, alleging Goh had direct links with Musa and that Musa had underworld ties, he said.

Ramli (photo) said this to questions by lawyer Chethan Jethwani, acting for Rosli.

After the arrest, Goh filed a habeas corpus application in which he implicated Musa, the ACA and Gani by saying that they cleared him of wrongdoing and he was wrongfully-arrested.

"Immediately after Goh filed the application, Gani instructed confidential Cicero files to be handed to the prosecution. I refused as the file contained confidential information of the informants on Goh.

"Despite objecting, an ACA officer requested I handover the file to the AG. I gave it and subsequently the file was handed to the ACA," he said.

Ramli said the Attorney-General’s Chambers neglected to draw up affidavits for Ramli and the six officers who arrested Goh.

This led to Rosli (photo) agreeing to draft the documents for the officers, after which the lawyer was dragged into the matter and arrested, Ramli said.

Rosli was also the lawyer who acted for MAS in its suits against Tajudin.

Ramli said as a result of Goh's habeas corpus application and intervention, the kingpin was released while Ramli and Rosli were charged in 2007.

The six men who arrested Goh on Ramli's instructions were also charged with fabricating evidence. All six were acquitted.

Following his own acquittal, the police under then IGP Ismail Omar gave him the paluan berundur (ceromonial farewell) on Nov 16, 2012, three years after his supposed retirement, Ramli said.

Ramli had reportedly hit out at Musa and Gani for conspiring against him in his speech during the ceremony.

During proceedings, Ramli also handed various documents related to the Copgate case, including his letter to PM Abdullah recommending action against Tajudin, as evidence.

The case have yet to be heard as Gani, again represented by Cecil (photo) , earlier applied to strike out the suit both Ramli and Rosli's suits.

However, Justice Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera dismissed the application and ruled that the AG is not immune to legal action.

The hearing for Ramli's suit continues before Justice Su tomorrow.

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