Rahman better expose grafts than defends colleagues, says Star

Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan

KOTA BELUD : The MP for Kota Belud, Abdul Rahman Dahlan, has been reminded that he sits in the MACC Special Committee on Anti-Corruption, and not to be too quick to jump on his feet openly defending his Umno colleagues who are subject of investigations on corrupt acts charge.

State Reform Party (Star) head for Kota Belud, Jalumin Bayogoh, said Abdul Rahman may have conflict of interest when he openly defends his colleagues as he was supposed to help expose corrupt acts and propose to strengthen approaches to stamp out graft and power abuses in the country.

"Last week he was very quick to defend the embattled Chief Minister Musa Aman, who is a subject on the still hotly-debated RM40 million issue, when he was never known to expose corrupt acts within the Barisan Nasional government.

"He might have compromised his position in the the special committee on graft which was established under the MACC Act. Moreover the the Swiss authorities are still investigating the matter," Jalumin said in a statement here today.

Abdul Rahman had defended the government’s position in "clearing" Musa of implication in the case, saying that the RM40 million, being a political donation, was not Musa's personal money but belong to Sabah Umno.

He also accused the opposition of just continuing to spin the issue after Malaysia's authorities considered the case settled.

“What is the core business of Umno? It is a contribution from people for political activities. There is no law against anyone contributing money to political parties as long as they are accounted for.

“If I had RM1 billion and I like you and I gave you RM2 million, so what? As long as a receipt is given,” Abdul Rahman had  said.

Abdul Rahman who is also Sabah BN secretary, challenged the opposition parties to reveal their own source of funding, saying they have not been transparent on theirs.

“Reveal your sources of income, how much have you collected from your donors. I have seen how Anwar (Ibrahim) in Permatang Pauh by-election threw money around," he charged.

Asked about the claim by opposition parties that the RM40 million amounted to ‘foreign money’, Abdul Rahman had said:” This is ridiculous, they are just having fun accusing Umno of everything.”

Last Thursday, Parliament was told that MACC had cleared Musa of graft and money-laundering allegations after finding that the over S$16 million (RM40 million) carried by businessman Michael Chia in Hong Kong in 2008 was not meant for the chief minister’s personal use but for for Sabah Umno liaison body.

“It is not for the private use of the the chief minister,” Nazri said in a written reply to Batu MP Tian Chua.

The minister had also said the Attorney-General’s Chambers had shelved the matter after finding “no element of corruption” in the case.

Nazri’s reply also stated that the Hong Kong ICAC took no further action in the case after the MACC finding, while the request for cooperation in a criminal matter lodged over the Swiss bank account has been withdrawn for the same reason.

Earlier this year, Sarawak Report published documents purportedly from the ICAC that showed that a Swiss bank account in the name of a lawyer in Sabah contained some US$30 million (RM92 million) and was allegedly being held for Musa.

The report claimed that a paper trail showed that millions in euros, US dollars, Hong Kong and Singapore dollars were channeled from several firms to a number of British Virgin Island companies and subsequently to the Swiss account.

The transactions were believed to have been managed by Hong Kong-based timber trader Chia who was later arrested and charged with money laundering after attempting to smuggle S$16 million (RM40 million) back to Malaysia.

(On Aug 14, 2008, Chia, was caught red-handed at the Hong Kong International Airport with Singapore currency worth RM40 million in his luggage before be could board a flight to Kuala Lumpur)

However yesterday Nazri made yet another eye-opening remark in Parliament claiming that Chia actually was never arrested by the ICAC in Hong Kong as all this while have been reported everywhere.