Abdul Gani Patail’s clarification failed to dispel suspicions over his relationship with Shahidan Shafie, an alleged proxy of former MAS executive chairman Tajuddin Ramli, said Robert Phang of the MACC’s Corruption Prevention Panel.
Tajuddin is currently facing investigations by MACC over MAS’s record loss of RM8 billion during his tenure. He was chairman from 1994 to 2001.
Panel chairman Ramon Navaratnam said yesterday that the MACC was satisfied with the AG’s explanation and had decided it was necessary to probe his link with Shahidan.
He also said it was “irresponsible to allege that he was in any way linked” to Shahidan.
AG went overboard to claim innocence
Phang said it was not true that all the MACC members who attended yesterday’s meeting with Gani were satisfied with his explanation.
He said Ramon’s statement had eroded any vestige of credibility left in the MACC and its advisers.
He said it would “inevitably invite further allegations that the board and panel members who attended this meeting were just rubberstamps to preserve the AG’s position”.
Thirty members of the MACC board and advisory panel attended yesterday’s meeting.
Phang revealed that Gani went “overboard” in trying to explain his innocence.
“Abdul Gani had indeed gone out on a limb and had gone overboard in trying to convince us of his innocence and that he had no close relationship with Shahidan. To me and others, it was a sorry sight.”
Abdul Gani must dispel cover-up allegation
Phang said it was imperative for the AG to dispel any suspicion surrounding his conduct of consorting with Shahidan, including their going for the Haj together.
“The public needs to be satisfied as to why Abdul Gani had not acted on the recommendations of the then Director of Commercial Crimes Department, Ramli Yusuff, that Tajuddin should be prosecuted,” he said.
“The public has already perceived that the AG’s decision to prosecute (then CCID chief) Ramli as an attempt to cover up the MAS scandal.”
A report on the probe by MACC indicated that one of the major factors that contributed to the RM8 billion losses was the relocation of MAS’ cargo operation in Amsterdam and Frankfurt to a single hub in Hahn, Germany.
It has been reported that the airline was forced to enter into a disadvantageous aircraft lease contract with a company linked to Tajuddin.
The national carrier was losing between RM10 million to RM16 million from the deal up to the project’s termination when the government retook MAS under its control in 2001. This resulted in a RM300 million arbitration claim against the company.
Abdul Gani was also reported to have been hesitant to prosecute Tajuddin despite Ramli’s assurance in 2007 that it had identified various prosecutable offences.
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