MACC lodges police report against Azam whistleblower, again
MACC has lodged another police report against whistleblower Lalitha Kunaratnam, who is currently fighting a lawsuit brought by its chief commissioner Azam Baki.
This time, an MACC officer claimed that Lalitha had lied to the court by stating that she is a researcher with the Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4 Center).
The whistleblower, who is being sued by Azam for write-ups about his share ownership in public-listed companies, had...
MACC has lodged another police report against whistleblower Lalitha Kunaratnam, who is currently fighting a lawsuit brought by its chief commissioner Azam Baki.
This time, an MACC officer claimed that Lalitha had lied to the court by stating that she is a researcher with the Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4 Center).
The whistleblower, who is being sued by Azam for write-ups about his share ownership in public-listed companies, had put the job description in her statement of defence.
However, MACC is disputing Lalitha's claim, saying that she was no longer an employee of C4 Center since Dec 2020.
The officer who lodged the report had based the allegation on a statement made by C4 Center last month, where the non-government organisation said Lalitha had "ceased being an employee with C4 Center since Dec 2020".
Sentul district police chief Beh Eng Lai when contacted, confirmed with Malaysiakini that police had received the report lodged by a MACC officer but directed further queries to the Kuala Lumpur police chief.
According to news portal Free Malaysia Today, the report was lodged at the Sentul police station yesterday.
Malaysiakini has also contacted Lalitha, who declined to comment on the allegation, and said that her lawyer will handle the matter.
Azam is suing Lalitha over the activist's two articles, ‘Business Ties Among MACC Leadership: How Deep Does It Go? (Part 1)’ and ‘Business Ties Among MACC Leadership: How Deep Does It Go? (Part Two)’, which were carried by the Asia-based Independent News Service (INS) late last year.
Lalitha had since stated that she was ready to fight Azam's lawsuit and prove in court the contents of her online articles regarding the issue.
Two days after Azam filed the suit, an MACC officer reportedly lodged a police report against the whistleblower, alleging that she was involved in the publication of fake news related to Azam's share ownership issue.
According to MalaysiaNow, an MACC officer named Mohan Munusamy, who holds the rank of senior assistant commissioner, claimed that Lalitha was factually incorrect and suggested that MACC officers were involved in corruption just because they are involved in businesses.
Azam came under the spotlight over his ownership of 1,930,000 shares in Gets Global Berhad (previously KBES Berhad) on April 30, 2015 worth around RM772,000 at the time.
His shareholding in Gets Global Berhad went down to 1,029,500 as of March 31, 2016, worth around RM340,000 at the time.
He also held 2,156,000 warrants in Excel Force MSC Berhad in March 2016.
The share ownership in 2015 and 2016 raised questions on whether it was commensurate with his income as a public servant.
In a special press conference on Jan 5, Azam did not dispute the ownership of the shares but claimed they were bought in his name by his younger brother. The shares have since been transferred to his brother.
Nearly a week later, on Jan 18, the Securities Commission (SC) announced that it had concluded its inquiry into the case and that it is unable to conclusively establish that a breach under Section 25(4) of the Securities Industry (Central Depositories) Act 1991 (SICDA) had occurred.
However, following criticism, the SC clarified that it found that Azam had “control” over his own trading account and that it found no evidence of proxy trading.
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