MACC: 'Albert' allegedly corrupt, no whistleblower protection

Summary

• MACC will charge the businessperson who exposed the Sabah mining licences corruption scandal, after he was found to have actively participated in the corrupt transactions.

• The businessperson’s lawyer, Mahajoth Singh, describes the move as “shocking and disappointing”, arguing that his client should receive whistleblower protection rather than prosecution for his exposé.

The MACC will prosecute the whistleblower in the Sabah mining licences scandal at month’s end after investigations allegedly found his active involvement in corrupt transactions.

The whistleblower, who only goes by “Albert”, will be charged in Kota Kinabalu on June 30.

“The directive to charge him follows investigations which found he was actively involved in corrupt transactions,” said MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki, as reported by Utusan Malaysia.

Albert’s lawyer, Mahajoth Singh, yesterday expressed the move to charge his client, who exposed the Sabah corruption scandal, as “shocking and disappointing”.

“At this juncture, I must make clear that without my client, the entire Sabah corruption scandal would not have even been investigated by MACC.

“My client’s disclosures, at serious personal risk, have greatly benefited the public interest.

“It is shocking and disappointing that my client is to be ‘rewarded’ with being charged with a criminal offence,” said Mahajoth in a statement to Malaysiakini yesterday evening.

The lawyer said when he and his client arrived at the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya yesterday afternoon, they were informed that “instructions from above” had been received to charge his client.

He said his client remains steadfast despite MACC’s move to prosecute him, instead of providing him protection as a whistleblower in a matter of paramount public interest.

The whistleblower, a 36-year-old businessperson, was arrested upon arriving at the MACC office and later released on RM10,000 bail.

Mahajoth said a MACC officer had also informed him that he would be made a witness in the case.

“I was told I would be made a witness, despite merely being a lawyer carrying out his duties. I then requested that a proper notice be served on me - otherwise, it would be completely unlawful and amount to a clear act of intimidation.

“Eventually, I was informed that I would not, after all, be made a witness,” he added.

Malaysiakini yesterday reported Azam saying that two Sabah assemblypersons and a civilian would be charged in connection with the said scandal.

Albert, who was questioned by the MACC for over nine hours on Tuesday (June 17), had also lodged a report against Arifin Arif, the son-in-law of Sabah governor Musa Aman.

According to Mahajoth, the report was related to his client’s allegation that the Membakut assemblyperson had offered a settlement.

The whistleblower had submitted a trove of videos, documents, and WhatsApp message screenshots to the MACC, allegedly implicating several assemblypersons in a mining scandal.

The businessperson claimed he paid bribes to the assemblypersons in exchange for mineral exploration licences.

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