Newly-appointed Perak Anti Corruption Agency director Bahri Mohd Zin confirmed that the agency has finished investigations into allegations of vote-buying during the recent Umno divisional elections in the state.

"The ACA has opened investigative papers following complaints from Umno members over alleged corrupt practices. We have completed investigations into those cases," he said when contacted by Malaysiakini.

Bahri, however, declined to divulge further details on the probe when asked how many divisions the agency had investigated and the personalities involved.

"We have managed to close several of the cases quickly as it does not involve a lot of documentation. Most of it was done through one-on-one interview with the individuals concerned," he said.

Bahri, who was appointed Perak ACA director last month, also did not want to comment whether the agency would be making any arrest.

There are 25 Umno divisions in Perak out of a total of 192 divisions nationwide. The divisions held their meetings between Oct 9 and Nov 9, where divisional elections were held and nominations made for top party posts at the national level.

The Perak ACA director said the complete investigation papers would be submitted to the agency’s headquarters in Kuala Lumpur to determine whether certain individuals should be charged.

Asked to comment on the possibility of the matter being referred to Umno's disciplinary committee, Bahri said if it involves corruption, the errant politicians would be charged in court.

However, if they are not charged, the individuals concerned would be referred to the party’s disciplinary committee for further action.

Apart from Perak, another state ACA has also launched investigations on allegations of vote-buying in Umno.

On Nov 4, Kedah ACA confirmed it had opened nine investigation papers on the matter following divisional elections.

Mahathir threatens to ‘name names’

Money politics has been a bane in Umno resulting in former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad threatening to “name names” of those involved in vote-buying.

mahathir at book launch 150508 01 The former premier even went on to suggest that money politics would ruin the party in the next general election if it was not addressed.

In his latest blog posting , Mahathir conceded that while vote-buying did exist when he was party leader, corruption has gotten much worse resulting in the Umno disciplinary committee receiving over 900 complaints.

In an unusual step, Umno president and Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had last month told party agents, campaign managers and vote canvassers who were found staying in hotels around Kuala Lumpur to lobby for their candidates to instead go home .