A Sarawak-based NGO has urged Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to investigate a person whom it described as the nation's “biggest thief.”

Without mentioning names, Movement of Change Sarawak (MoCS) leader Francis Siah said this person resided in the hornbill state.

“A certain individual in Sarawak who was reportedly worth a staggering RM45 billion, according to a 2012 report by the Swiss-based group, Bruno Manser Fonds (BMF), is a Sarawakian,” he added.

Siah claimed if the sum amassed by this person's family and state ministers were taken into account, the figure would be a staggering RM64 billion.

“This is wealth derived from plundering the state over three decades,” he told Malaysiakini.

According to Siah, the individual concerned is easily the richest man in Malaysia, having well surpassed the hard-earned fortunes of tycoon Robert Kuok.

'Could have stolen more than Najib'

“If the prime minister and the Pakatan Harapan government are going after Najib Abdul Razak for his allegedly stolen wealth, then this individual from Sarawak must be thoroughly investigated too.

“He could easily have stolen much more from the state over 30 long years than Najib. The biggest Malaysian thief is actually in Sarawak. This is our message to the prime minister,” he added.

Siah said, as the Harapan government embarks on its anti-corruption drive, MoCS is also urging the prime minister to look into the decades of corrupt practices in Sarawak perpetuated by BN leaders.

“This blatant abuse of power has caused untold suffering to Sarawakians,” he added.

He said MoCS also expressed its support to the prime minister’s initiative to replace the top brass in the MACC as the first step to curb corruption.

“It’s heartening to learn that the chief commissioner Dzulkifli Ahmad has resigned today. All his deadwood cohorts must also go,” he added.

Siah said the prime minister must promise Sarawakians that all the “thieves, daylight robbers and those who were not probed for their alleged thieving” must never be allowed to go unpunished.

For the record, MoCS had lodged reports against the former Sararak chief minister and current governor Abdul Taib Mahmud with the police and MACC, both in Sarawak and Kuala Lumpur.

The movement had also petitioned the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong not to appoint Taib as governor.