MACC suspends two officers over Customs officer’s death

KUALA LUMPUR, April 7 — The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has suspended two officers for leaving Ahmad Sarbani Mohamed unattended before he fell to his death from the MACC office here yesterday.

The 56-year-old Selangor Customs assistant director was found dead on the first floor of the MACC office in Jalan Cochrane yesterday morning after falling from the third floor.

“Two MACC officers have been suspended for the purposes of investigation because they are said to have violated orders related to the handling of witnesses or customers in MACC premises, where the officers are said to have failed to accompany witnesses or customers at all times while they are in MACC premises,” said the MACC in a statement today.

“These suspensions are to assist internal investigations related to this matter and the suspensions will last until an internal probe is completed,” added the national anti-graft authority.

MACC investigations director Datuk Mustafar Ali said yesterday that Ahmad Sarbani had returned to the MACC building at 8.26am yesterday without an appointment and requested to meet with the investigating officer.

Ahmad Sarbani had already given his statement to the MACC and was released from custody at 12.30pm on Saturday.

Mustafar said an officer then accompanied the senior Customs officer to a room in the office before leaving to collect the case file but found him missing when he returned.

Ahmad Sarbani’s body was later found sprawled on the badminton court on the first floor.

The MACC said today the suspensions were made under Regulation 43 of the Public Officers (Conduct and Discipline) General Orders (Amendment) 2002.

The statement did not mention the names of the suspended officers.

The beleaguered anti-graft body said the outcome of the internal investigation will be presented to the MACC Complaints Committee that will probe complaints involving non-criminal conduct.

“The terms of reference of this Complaints Committee is to monitor complaints about non-criminal conduct against the commission’s officers, to identify weaknesses in the commission’s procedures that could cause complaints to arise, and to make suitable recommendations about the commission’s procedures if necessary,” said the MACC.

The Complaints Committee comprises chairman Datuk Mohd Nor Abdullah, Datuk Muhammad Mohd Noor, Datuk Wan Abdul Wahab Abdullah, Chooi Mun Sau and Ravindran V. Muthu, according to the MACC.

Kuala Lumpur police chief Datuk Zulkifli Abdullah has confirmed that the Sarbani case has been classified as sudden death and initial investigations found injuries to the head of the victim.

Ahmad Sarbani had been remanded on March 29 following an MACC-led swoop on Customs staff, resulting in the arrest of 62 officers.

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 has said the operation included the arrest of a husband-and-wife duo working with the Customs in an east coast state, who were caught with hundreds of thousands of ringgit in cash “scattered around their house.”