Azam has shares exceeding civil service limits again, PM urged to act

• UPDATED 5.05PM | Added Azam’s comments that the shares in question had been properly declared.

MACC chief Azam Baki is in the spotlight again over his shareholding portfolio - an issue that once led Pakatan Harapan to join calls for him to be removed as top graft buster.

A Bloomberg report today highlighted that Azam owns 17.7 million shares in financial services company Velocity Capital Partner Berhad - which is about a 1.7 percent stake.

The shares are worth close to RM800,000 as of the opening of trade today, far in excess of the limits placed on civil servants, where they cannot buy more than RM100,000 worth of shares in any single company.

While it is unclear when Azam procured the shares, a check on Velocity Capital Partner’s stock price history showed that its value has been relatively the same since August 2022 at around RM0.045 per share, and had peaked at close to RM1.50 per share in April 2019.

Azam declined to comment when contacted.

However, he later told the New Straits Times that the shares had been properly declared through the Public Service Department's Human Resource Management system.

He also said the shares were purchased last year and disposed of within the year.

READ MORE: MACC: Azam's shareholdings comply with disclosure rules

Malaysiakini has verified the report with the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) records, which in turn are based on company documents registered on Dec 26 last year.

The share prices varied between RM0.015 per share and RM0.065 per share last year, meaning Azam’s shareholdings could be worth between RM265,500 and RM1,150,500 at the time - which is beyond the RM100,000 worth of shares in any single company limit placed on civil servants.

Previously, in late 2021, the MACC chief came under scrutiny 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 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 RM100,000 share purchase limit rule for civil servants was already in place at the time.

No proof of proxy trading

In January 2022, Azam said he had informed the MACC Corruption Prevention Advisory Board that the shares were bought by his brother, who borrowed his name and that he believed he did not do anything wrong.

The declaration triggered a Securities Commission probe that eventually found no evidence of proxy trading as Azam had “control” over his own trading account.

On Jan 20, 2022, Anwar Ibrahim, then the opposition leader, pledged to raise the matter with then-prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

This was after PKR Youth handed him a memorandum, which, among others, called for MACC chiefs to declare their assets.

Since taking power as prime minister in November 2022, however, Anwar has become a staunch supporter of Azam, once declaring that the latter was the only one brave enough to go after corrupt leaders.

READ MORE: Set up oversight body to scrutinise MACC - Nurul Izzah

Anwar has extended Azam's contract as MACC chief past retirement three times.

Azam's current contract is due to expire on May 12, and he has indicated that he plans to finally retire.

‘Order Azam to go on leave’

Following the Bloomberg report, Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Karim urged Anwar to push out the MACC chief.

"As there are new facts, Anwar must order Azam to go on leave or terminate his contract immediately so that a MACC and/or police investigation against Azam can be carried out.

"There is no other option if Anwar is sincere about combating corruption and abuse of power to its core," Hassan told Malaysiakini.

The outspoken PKR lawmaker said that Anwar was well aware of the allegations against Azam and how his continued support for the MACC chief had damaged the government's anti-corruption credibility.

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