Malaysia Investigates Head of Anti-Corruption Agency

Malaysia is investigating the head of the country's Anti-Corruption Agency, Zulkipli Mat Noor, after allegations he had amassed assets beyond his means.

The probe follows accusations made by a former officer at the agency, Royal Malaysia Police spokesman Ahmad Nawawi said in a telephone interview today. Zulkipli couldn't be reached for comment and his assistant said he won't comment on the matter.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who has made fighting corruption a cornerstone of his administration, has said it's ``not easy'' to stamp out graft, calling it ``cancerous.'' Malaysia fell five levels in Transparency International's 2006 Corruption Perceptions Index to 44th place, indicating corruption is seen to be worsening in the country.

``The credibility of the ACA is gravely affected,'' said Ramon Navaratnam, president of Transparency International Malaysia. The public has ``to be assured by the government that the government has really taken action,'' and the ``longer the delay, the more doubt there would be, and the greater the erosion on the public perception of the government's intention to push forward with its policies of fighting corruption.''

Local Web sites in the last week reported the allegations against Zulkipli by the retired officer. Online news site Malaysiakini on Feb. 26 published a July 4 letter by Mohamad Ramli Abdul Manan containing the claims that were addressed to the then chief of police, Mohd. Bakri Omar.

Provide Evidence

Zulkipli doesn't have any comment on the allegations, Hanizah Ibrahim, his assistant at the anti-corruption agency office, said today. Zulkipli is out of the office all day, she said.

Zulkipli said he was ready to provide evidence against the claims, saying he was confident as only a guilty person needs to be afraid, Bernama reported late yesterday.

Zulkipli will be asked to appear before a Parliamentary Select Committee on Integrity on March 12, Bernama said, citing Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Bernard Dompok, who heads the 12-member committee.

Current Inspector General of Police Musa Hassan ordered a ``special task force'' to investigate the case, Assistant Superintendent Ahmad Nawawi, the police spokesman, said.

The police are handling this investigation because the case is ``high profile'' and the anti-graft agency can't probe its top executive, he said. The agency investigates most corruption allegations, he added.

Thorough Probe

Police will summon Zulkipli soon to record his statement over the allegations, Bernama cited police chief Musa as saying late yesterday. Prime Minister Abdullah wants the probe to be conducted thoroughly, Bernama cited the premier as saying in Yemen today.

Prior to heading the anti-graft agency in 2001, Zulkipli was with the Royal Malaysia Police for 20 years and served as the police chief of southern Johor and eastern Sarawak states, Bernama reported. His term as the ACA director-general has been extended three times, the national news agency said.

Abdullah said Zulkipli had previously been investigated twice and had been cleared, Bernama reported. A royal commission in 2005 found the police force to be the most corrupt department in the government.

The Anti-Corruption Agency is tasked with discovering and investigating acts of corruption and abuse of power. The agency is administered by the Prime Minister's Department although it performs its duties independently under the supervision of the director-general without interference from any party, it said on its Web site.

The director-general is appointed by Malaysia's king on the advice of the prime minister.

`Laughing Stock'

The head of the anti-graft agency ``must not only be clean and incorrupt, but must be seen and perceived to be clean and incorrupt if the ACA and the country's anti-corruption campaign is not to be reduced into a joke and a laughing-stock,'' Lim Kit Siang, a lawmaker with the opposition Democratic Action Party, said in an e-mailed statement today.

Zulkipli should be replaced and transferred until the full outcome of the investigation, Lim said.

A survey on public perception on corruption to be released by Transparency International Malaysia next week shows that Malaysians feel the government hasn't done enough to curb graft, Navaratnam said. The survey polled more than 1,200 individuals and over 400 companies.

``While the public is pleased with the new initiatives taken by the government, they feel it is inadequate,'' he said. ``They wished the government did more and more quickly, and if not, they fear it will get worse and it can undermine all government policies on economic growth.''

Abdullah, who announced a $57 billion five-year development plan last year, has pledged to reduce poverty and distribute wealth more evenly in Southeast Asia's third-largest economy.

In January, he told a gathering of civil servants to do more to cut bureaucracy and reduce corruption, saying these hurt the government's ability to implement its policies.

(By Stephanie Phang and Angus Whitley-Bloomberg)


Meanwhile, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi wants the probe into allegations of corruption and abuse of power against Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) director-general Datuk Seri Zulkipli Mat Noor to be conducted thoroughly.

"I have telephoned the IGP (Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan) on the case and he has informed me what is being done," he told theMalaysian media here yesterday at the end of his three-day visit to Yemen.

Abdullah, who had been updated on the case by the IGP, said he wanted the case to be conducted properly to determine the real situation, reports Bernama today.

The allegations against Zulkipli surfaced after a movement who call themselves Gerak or Gerakan Demokrasi dan Anti Korupsi (Democracy and Anti-Corruption Movement), posted in a local blog the allegations made by a former Sabah ACA director.

The allegations by Mohamad Ramli Manan were made in a letter to former IGP Tan Sri Mohd Bakri Omar last July.


Malaysia ACA