Union wants Najib to explain Sarbani’s death, clear Customs’ name

Customs officers praying outside the autopsy room of the Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia where Sarbani’s body had been taken on April 6, 2011. — File pic

KUALA LUMPUR, April 8 — The main Customs officers union decided today to seek an explanation from Datuk Seri Najib Razak and clear the department’s name after the fatal death plunge of a senior officer being investigated for suspected corruption over billions of ringgit of unpaid tax.

The Peninsular Malaysia Customs Union also wants the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to explain Ahmad Sarbani Mohamed’s death at its Federal Territory office in Jalan Cochrane here on Wednesday and clear his name as a suicide case.

“We hope that Sarbani’s name will be cleared from the word suicide,” union president Ibrahim Ahmad told reporters here after a two-hour meeting with Cuepacs, the umbrella organisation for civil servants.

The prime minister promised yesterday a transparent and professional investigation into Sarbani’s death but said the circumstances were different from a similar death plunge involving Teoh Beng Hock as the Customs officer was not being questioned on Wednesday unlike the DAP political aide.

Ibrahim speaks to the press after the meeting with Cuepacs today, April 8, 2011. — Picture by Jack Ooi

Incidentally, the Royal Malaysian Customs is under the purview of the Finance Ministry which is headed by Najib.

 
“We want to meet with the prime minister for an explanation and clear the Customs’ name.

“We also want to meet the MACC chief and ask for his explanation and what MACC plans to do next,” Ibrahim said.

He also warned MACC to be more professional during its interrogations and not cause any physical harm.
Ibrahim also said that it was unfair for MACC to target Customs officials in its bid to recoup a whopping RM108 billion in reported revenue loss to the country annually.

“We have consistently submitted our revenue report and every year we earn about RM28 billion so it is illogical for us to be responsible for the RM108 billion,” he said, referring to last week’s raid that led to the arrest of 62 officers, including Sarbani.

The MACC raided over 100 premises including 25 Customs offices in a nationwide dragnet for alleged tax evasion, money laundering and illegal funds outflows worth billions of ringgit.

The Selangor Customs assistant director was found dead on the ground outside the MACC’s office in Jalan Cochrane at about 10.20am on Wednesday, where he is believed to have fallen out of the building’s third-floor window.

Sarbani’s death comes as a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) is investigating MACC operational procedures and the death of Teoh on July 16, 2009 after a coroner’s inquest returned an open verdict of neither suicide nor homicide.

The aide to Selangor executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah was a witness whose body was found sprawled on the fifth-floor corridor of the anti-graft body’s Selangor headquarters following overnight questioning there.

Kuala Lumpur police chief Datuk Zulkifli Abdullah also confirmed that Sarbani suffered injuries that were consistent with a fall from height but refused to say if the 56-year-old father had suffered any other injuries.