By Zurairi AR
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 23 ― Hong Kong graftbusters may renew their probe into the murky RM40 million “political donation” to Sabah Umno if provided with evidence to show the funds were transacted on the island, PKR’s Rafizi Ramli said today.
“I’m very confident that the case will be re-opened. From our discussion with ICAC, they have given an easy evidence test,” the PKR strategy director said in a press conference here, referring to the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
“And we do have evidence, documents. That’s why we need to return in two weeks,” said Rafizi, who led a team of PKR lawmakers to Hong Kong on Wednesday in a bid to get authorities there to renew their investigations into the matter.
Rafizi and his team were reluctant, however, to divulge details on the evidence, other than to say it met the ICAC’s requirment, for fear of jeopardising their sources and the investigation.
“There are like three or four files,” Rafizi said, refusing to elaborate further.
Yesterday, the PKR team furnished fresh evidence to the ICAC on Datuk Musa Aman’s RM40 million graft case and were invited to return with more proof on the Sabah chief minister’s alleged money-laundering link with businessman Michael Chia.
In PKR’s report, three reasons were listed to encourage the world-renowned ICAC to reopen the RM40 million graft probe against Musa and Chia — separate claims from two Sabah MPs that the money was not a political donation to Umno as claimed; and the receipt of a luxury vehicle from Chia by Umno minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz, possibly for corrupt reasons.
“They did give us a reference number and I think that by practice here, all cases are opened once a report is lodged,” Rafizi said yesterday in a phone call to The Malaysian Insider.
The fact-finding mission, which had just touched down from Hong Kong, also included PKR MPs William Leong and Lee Hoy Sian, and Perak assemblyman Chang Lih Kang.
MORE TO COME