Azam Baki shareholdings: Govt keeping report under wraps for now

The government has indicated that the outcome of a probe into former MACC chief Azam Baki's shareholdings will remain under wraps for now.

This is despite Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's pledge to reveal a report into the related corporate mafia scandal, even if Azam was implicated.

The shareholding case, which involved allegations that Azam (above) breached civil service limits on stock purchases, was one of the major scandals of the year - and surfaced at the same time as the corporate mafia allegations.

In a parliamentary written reply yesterday, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reforms) Azalina Othman Said said the government will evaluate whether there is a need to release the report, taking into account legal provisions, especially surrounding personal information protection, the secrecy of investigation documents, asset disclosure records, and the interests of those involved.

She told Kota Melaka MP Khoo Poay Tiong that any decision on the matter would be announced by the chief secretary to the government, a repeat of what she said in July.

In February, Bloomberg and Malaysiakini separately reported that Azam - who was still MACC chief then - had significant shares in two companies that appeared to be in excess of what the civil service allowed.

Companies Commission records revealed that Azam had at some point held 17.7 million shares in Velocity Capital Partner Berhad and around 4.52 million shares in Awanbiru Technology Berhad.

The Velocity Capital shares were believed to have been bought for around RM1.5 million, while the Awanbiru shares were estimated to have been valued between RM1.24 million and RM1.38 million at some point.

While share trading by civil servants is not illegal, the 2024 Public Officers’ Conduct and Disciplinary Management Circular stipulates that civil servants are not allowed to purchase shares that exceed five percent of paid-up capital or RM100,000 at current value.

Azam has denied wrongdoing.

Cabinet briefed

Pursuant to the scandal, a panel consisting of Attorney-General Dusuki Mokhtar, Public Service Department (PSD) director-general Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz and Treasury secretary Johan Mahmood Merican investigated Azam.

They had completed the investigation by early March, and a PSD Disciplinary Board meeting was supposed to convene and deliberate on the findings.

However, to date, decisions regarding the probe have not been revealed to the public, though Azalina said the cabinet has been briefed on the findings.

It is unclear whether the scandal had any bearing on Anwar's decision not to renew Azam's contract as MACC chief for a fourth time past retirement in May.

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