The board members believe that Azam did not have any pecuniary interest in the said shares
by AZREEN HANI / pic by HUSSEIN SHAHARUDDIN
THERE is no criminal conduct or conflict of interest by Tan Sri Azam Baki (picture) over his purchase of corporate shares made in 2015.
The Anti-Corruption Advisory Board chairman Tan Sri Abu Zahar Ujang also said the board found no pecuniary interest by Azam, who is the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) commissioner, over the matter.
Abu Zahar said Azam was called to clarify the issue with the board on Nov 24, last year.
“The purchase of shares was made in the open market in 2015 and there was no conflict of interests,” he said in a highly anticipated press conference at Putrajaya yesterday.
“The board members are of the opinion that Azam did not have any pecuniary interest in the said shares,” he added.
According to Abu Zahar, Azam said that his brother had used his (Azam’s) share trading account to acquire the shares in 2015.
Abu Zahar also rejected calls for the Royal Commission of Inquiry to be set up for this but said that it is up to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to decide.
Last week, academician Dr Edmund Terence Gomez announced his resignation to the Consultation and Corruption Prevention Panel of the MACC, citing protest over the panel’s chairman Datuk Seri Borhan Dollah’s inaction on two reports of Azam’s shares ownership.
Gomez noted that Azam has not made any public statement about the two reports by the Independent News Service, nor has he responded to public statements made by parliamentarians about his business interests.
Abu Zahar, meanwhile, told the press yesterday that he has not received any letter from Gomez regarding this issue.
On Oct 26, Azam was reported to have links to several companies which sparked a conflict-of-interest situation regarding his position as a MACC chief commissioner, as reported by Independent News Service based on Edisi Siasat’s blog.
Meanwhile, Azam finally broke the silence in the same press conference, saying that he had clarified with the board that his trading account was used by his brother for shares trading.
“The shares were bought in the open market and my brother had financed the purchases on his own,” he said, adding that all the shares had been transferred to his brother’s trading account.
“I did not commit any wrongdoing, there is no basis to accusations that I have a conflict of interest (over this),” he said.
Azam also said that he has informed his superiors over the share purchase in 2015, and they were also satisfied with his clarification.
Without naming names, Azam said he will take legal action against those who had a “bad agenda” that sought to tarnish his reputation as well as the MACC.
He also did not dismiss the possibility of suing a whistleblower account on Twitter — Edisi Siasat — for the accusations levelled at him.
Azam noted that he could have attracted and gained enemies for his 37 years of service in the anti-graft body.
RELATED ARTICLES




Court allows forfeiture of more than RM3 million seized from Pahang UMNO, PBRS to government

