KUALA LUMPUR, April 6 — A Customs officer died today after falling from the third floor of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) building on Jalan Cochrane where he was being investigated with others for over a billion ringgit in unpaid taxes.
MACC investigations director Datuk Mustafar Ali said the Customs officer's body was found sprawled on the first floor at 10.15am.
The death comes even as a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) is being conducted into the anti-graft body’s operating procedures following the death of former DAP aide Teoh Beng Hock, who also fell to his death from an MACC building.
Teoh was found dead on July 16, 2009 on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam, Shah Alam, where the Selangor MACC office had then been located.
During a hastily-convened press conference, Mustafar revealed that the deceased was Ahmad Sarbani Mohamed (picture), a 56-year-old assistant director from Customs Department in Selangor.
He explained that Ahmad had returned to the MACC building at 8.26am today unannounced and requested to meet with the investigation officer.
Ahmad had already given his statement to MACC and released from custody at 12.30PM on Saturday.
He had been remanded on March 29 following an MACC-led swoop on Customs staff, resulting in the arrests of 62 officers.
“The deceased had asked to meet with the investigation officer but did not say why,” Mustafar said.
The chief investigator said an officer then accompanied Ahmad to an office room before leaving to collect the case file but found him missing when he returned.
Ahmad’s body was later found sprawled on the badminton court at the first floor.
“[The] MACC has informed what happened to the deceased’s family and management from his department.
“We have also submitted the matter to the police for further action,” he said.
Kuala Lumpur police chief Datuk Zulkifli Abdullah confirmed that the case has been classified as sudden death and initial investigation has found injuries to the head.
The MACC last week busted a Customs syndicate responsible for billions of ringgit in tax evasion, money laundering and illegal funds outflows after raiding over 100 different premises nationwide.
Mustafar said the operation included the arrest of a husband-and-wife duo working for the Royal Malaysian Customs Department in an east coast state, who were caught with hundreds of thousands of ringgit in cash “scattered around their house.”
He added that the operation was ongoing and the full value of tax evasion was not yet known.
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