PM insists Sabah graft videos not evidence amid scrutiny of GRS ties

Anwar Ibrahim is leaning on procedure and an evidence-based approach to corruption amid concerns that Pakatan Harapan's reformist image is being clouded by its cooperation with Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), which is staving off graft allegations.

Commenting on a scandal involving businessperson Albert Tei, who released several videos showing some GRS leaders allegedly accepting bribes to facilitate Tei’s bid for a mineral exploration licence, the prime minister insisted that the videos alone do not constitute sufficient evidence.

“In Sabah, I took the video very seriously. But then we looked (and in the video it was said): ‘I want to give you RM1 million, you can take next week'. That is not the case.

“You have to establish that there was a transfer of money. The cases that were established, they (MACC) charged. I draw the line,” Anwar said during a meeting with journalists in Kota Kinabalu today.

Tei had submitted more than 300 pages of evidence to the MACC, including money trails, bank records, documents, and written correspondence as evidence to back up the claims in the videos.

Of the 14 Sabah politicians implicated in Tei's videos, only two have been charged with corruption.

They are incumbent Tanjung Batu assemblyperson Andi Suryady Bandy and incumbent Sindumin assemblyperson Yusof Yacob. Tei was also charged with giving them bribes totalling RM500,000.

Andi and Yusof are among four of those implicated who are not contesting this election. Another 10, including caretaker chief minister Hajiji Noor, are defending their seats.

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Anwar has been accused of turning a blind eye towards the scandal due to his cooperation with GRS.

The prime minister, in turn, accused some political actors of selective criticism, saying the same groups remained silent when national leaders were implicated in far larger scandals.

“When I dealt with big cases involving even former leaders with billions, the groups were completely silent. Why are they silent? Are they funded by these people, or is it purely political?” he asked today.

Swaying public perception

Anwar added that wealthy individuals often wield disproportionate influence in shaping public debate over corruption.

“Because they are rich, they can pay media, politics, parties, NGOs. It’s happening,” he said.

He pointed to allegations that his former aide Farhash Wafa Salvador Rizal Mubarak was granted tens of thousands of hectares of land in Sabah, which he said was already disproven after MACC confirmed no land grant existed.

This, he said, was proof that political perception often outpaces evidence.

“I called Hajiji immediately… and the anti-graft busters checked. There was no approval. So perception is something else,” he added.

Farhash and the Sabah Mineral Management Sdn Bhd (SMM) initially denied outright that a company linked to the former was granted a mineral exploration licence.

However, it later emerged that SMM granted the company conditional permission to apply for a licence. This was later revoked after the company did not furnish the necessary documents.

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