ATTORNEY-GENERAL (AG) Tan Sri Idrus Harun said today that the affidavit of former AG Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail was one of the considerations taken into account when dropping charges of corruption and money laundering against former Sabah chief minister Tan Sri Musa Aman.
He issued a statement this evening explaining why the High Court earlier today acquitted Musa of all 46 criminal charges against him involving corruption and money laundering relating to timber concessions.
High Court judge Justice Muhammad Jamil Hussin granted the order after Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid told the court during case management that the prosecution intended to withdraw all the charges.
Musa’s lawyer Francis Ng then asked for the court to grant a full acquittal and this was granted.
On Nov 5, 2018, Musa was charged in the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court with 35 counts under section 11(a) of the Anti-Corruption Act 1997 for corruptly obtaining gratification of US$44,111,559.61 and SG$507,636 in relation to timber concession contracts in Sabah between August 2004 and March 2008. Five charges were withdrawn on Oct 18, 2019.
On March 5, 2019, Musa was also charged with 16 counts under section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLATFAPUA) for laundering US$40,345,492.35 between June 2006 and May 2008.
On Feb 13, 2020, Musa filed two Notices of Motion – to set aside and quash the charges as groundless, and to refer a constitutional question to the Federal Court regarding a certificate by a diplomatic officer under AMLATFAPUA.
Musa then sent a representation to the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) on May 13, 2020 for the case against him to be withdrawn and all charges to be quashed.
“AGC received an affidavit which was filed in the High Court by Musa. It was affirmed by Abdul Gani supporting the application to quash all the charges against him,” Idrus said.
Abdul Gani defended the decision taken in 2012 to take no further action against Musa as the investigation revealed that the amounts involved were political funding, he added in a statement.
Abdul Gani also pointed out that the decision was made collectively by high-level individuals – Datuk Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah (the former Head of Prosecution Division), Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamad (the former Chief Commissioner of MACC, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) and Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali (the former MACC Director of Investigation.
“After studying the investigation paper from a legal standpoint, (Abdul Gani) in the exercise of his discretion decided not to proceed with prosecution. In light of the representation and the recent development in the form of the affidavit by (him), it is the responsibility of this Department to review the whole evidence for this case,” Idrus said.
He also said that after studying all the evidence and following discussions with the prosecution and investigation teams, he decided to withdraw all the charges against Musa.
He explained that in such cases, documentary evidence is vital to prove a case. However, documentary evidence from companies and banks could not be obtained under the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters arrangement from Hong Kong.
The Department of Justice Hong Kong advised that companies and banks in Hong Kong are only required to keep records for seven years and it is highly unlikely that they would still have the records regarding this case.
Also, there were witnesses for the prosecution who had died, had serious medical ailments or were not in Malaysia anymore.
It was therefore “no longer tenable to continue with the prosecution of the former chief minister,” Idrus said.
This decision is strengthened by a letter dated Dec 22, 2011 from the Independent Commission Against Corruption Hong Kong stating that its investigation against Musa was complete and on the basis of known facts no further investigative action will be pursued. – June 9, 2020
