WHILE Tan Sri Tommy Thomas may no longer be the country’s attorney-general (AG), the morality of public interest requires him to provide as much information as possible for the prosecution of Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as well as others who had allegedly received kickbacks from Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd (UKSB), said Penang deputy chief minister II Dr P. Ramasamy.
A key witness in the UMNO president’s corruption trial had testified that apart from the former deputy prime minister, other politicians had also received funds from UKSB.
The UKSB ledger presented in court mentioned former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, former foreign minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman and former Sabah chief minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, among others.
“Thomas is the person responsible for filing charges against Zahid for accepting money from UKSB in the form of donations between 2014 and 2018,” Ramasamy noted.
“However, he could not file charges against other politicians simply because of their involvement, as the material time was not known – at least, this is what Thomas had claimed.
“I am not sure whether there was an element of selective prosecution or whether there was only a need to go after the big fish, especially from UMNO.”
Ramasamy further raised the question if there was an element of political influence by the Pakatan Harapan government to “merely punish powerful politicians from UMNO and not others”.
“Were the codes and nicknames as contained in the ledger available to Thomas when he was the AG? Didn’t the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) have the full details of the payment of donations to politicians other than Zahid?” he asked.
“Zahid might be the main beneficiary of the largesse, but surely there were others. But why is it that only his name was exposed and not the names of others who were involved?
“Although these ‘holier-than-thou’ individuals have denied their involvement, there is certainly a prima facie case against them.
“They should be charged and prosecuted on the basis of available evidence and ultimately, the court will determine whether they are corrupt or not.”
Ramasamy went on to say that it might be a small consolation to Zahid that he is not the only one involved in this matter, although he noted that Zahid had received the bulk of the so-called donations for granting favours to UKSB for permission to operate the foreign visa system (VLN).
“Malaysia is full of surprises on the matter of corruption. There is no end to the dastardly act of indulgence in corruption at the expense of public integrity and morality,” he commented.
“The more the prosecution digs, the more ‘dirt’ will be uncovered. In the UKSB case, it is not enough to prosecute and punish Zahid as others must be prosecuted as well.
“Hopefully, MACC would be willing to go after these individuals instead of being awed by the ‘might’ of the executive branch of the Government.”
Zahid, 69, is facing 33 charges of receiving bribes amounting to S$13.56 mil (RM42 mil) from UKSB as an inducement for himself in his capacity as a civil servant and the then home minister to extend the contract of the company as the operator of the One-Stop Centre (OSC) in China and the VLN system, as well as to maintain the agreement to supply VLN integrated system paraphernalia to the company by the ministry.
On another seven counts, he is charged as the home minister to have obtained for himself S$1,150,000, RM3 mil, 15,000 Swiss francs and US$15,000 in cash from the same company in connection with his official work. – June 24, 2022
