A senior officer from the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) met DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng in Malacca today to obtain a statement in relation to his comments on former Sabah chief minister Osu Sukam's huge gambling debt in a London casino.

The statement was recorded under section 22(3)(b) of the Anti-Corruption Act 1997 which gives the agency the power to examine persons deemed connected to an investigation.

When contacted, Lim said he had received a phone call from the ACA at 8am today requesting him to come to its headquarters in Putrajaya to have his statement recorded.

As he could not do so, a senior officer - identified only as Tilagawati - travelled to Malacca to meet him.

"The officer arrived at 11am and took about an hour to record the statement from me. I will not divulge details of the statement except to say that it was related to my public statements on Osu Sukam," he said.

When contacted, the ACA officer, who is said to have questioned Lim, said she could not comment on the interview with Lim or even if the ACA has opened a file on Osu .

The agency's director-general Zulkipli Mat Noor and the investigation division director are abroad and will only return on Monday.

Two statements

Lim had made two statements on the issue - one on July 7 that was reported by the media and the other at a DAP dinner in Rasah, Negeri Sembilan on July 16 - questioning whether Osu's gambling habit had affected his public duties.

Osu - who resigned under pressure as Umno Papar division chief on July 12 - is said to have lost millions of ringgit when gambling in casinos abroad. He currently owes a casino in London RM7.14 million.

In his July 16 speech, Lim had criticised rich Barisan Nasional leaders who "throw away wealth".

"It is not surprising the United Nations Development Programme's human development report 2004 revealed that the richest 10 percent in Malaysia controls 38.4 percent of our economic income compared to our poorest 10 percent who control only 1.7 percent," he said .

He further provided details of Osu's 50-day gambling spree at London's Ritz Hotel Casino in 2002.