I’ve been advised to keep quiet, says outgoing MACC chief
In a brief reaction to the police report lodged against him and two others, Abu Kassim says he has been advised not to issue any statement.
PUTRAJAYA: Abu Kassim Mohamed says he has been advised by his lawyers not to issue any statement with regard to the police report lodged against him by an Umno Youth member alleging his involvement in a plot to topple Prime Minister Najib Razak.
“I have been advised by my lawyer to keep quiet,” the outgoing Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) commissioner told reporters here, today.
Earlier, Umno Youth deputy chief Khairul Azwan Harun lodged a police report against Abu Kassim as well as former Bank Negara Malaysia governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz; and former Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail, alleging the trio had plotted to topple Najib.
Khairul further alleged that Abu Kassim, Zeti and Gani had handed over sensitive information and documents to agencies in the United States, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), without first obtaining the authorisation of local government agencies.
In his farewell speech at the MACC headquarters here, Abu Kassim urged officers of the commission to give their full support to their new commissioner.
“We all know, the new chief (commissioner) is not from within (MACC). I am confident with the decision made by the government,” he said, adding that MACC officers must brief the new commissioner and strive to make the commission an excellent anti-graft agency.
As announced by chief secretary to the government Ali Hamsa, Dzulkifli Ahmad of the Attorney-General’s Chambers would take over from Abu Kassim effective Aug 1.
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Dzulkifli was the director of the National Revenue Recovery Enforcement Team while attached to the AG’s Chambers.