KUALA LUMPUR, 26 Aug 2008: The Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) wants Datuk S. Nallakaruppan to brief the agency over his allegation that Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had received RM60 million from Magnum Corporation.
As the allegation was serious, ACA Deputy Director-General I Datuk Abu Kassim Mohamed said, Nallakaruppan, a Magnum director who was once Anwar’s friend, would be called as soon as possible by the agency.
"We are advising him to lodge an official report with us to explain his allegation. We need to gather vital information pertaining to the matter.
"ACA can only begin a probe if there’s a (official) report, and not through hearsay.
"Therefore, we want him to brief us first," he told reporters after the closing ceremony of the Executive Certificate Course for Strategic Management of Anti-Corruption Programme here today.
Abu Kassim said the anti-graft agency must look into various angles of the allegation before taking further action.
Asked whether ACA would be calling the management of Magnum Corporation or Anwar himself to facilitate the agency’s investigations into the matter, Abu Kassim said: "If necessary, we will call upon other related quarters to explain. It all depends on the need of our investigation.
"But at the moment, we will only be calling Nallakaruppan to assist us. We also have to verify many things before starting a probe."
In his allegation made on 24 Aug 2008 in Bukit Mertajam, Nallakaruppan, who is Malaysian Indian United Party president, also alleged that Anwar had approved many licences for gambling, when the latter was finance minister.
Earlier in his closing speech, Abu Kassim stressed the importance of fighting the scourge of corruption as it was needed to guarantee the survival of a government.
Twenty participants from Nigeria, Brunei, Bhutan, Mongolia and Malaysia attended the two-week programme held at the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Agency (MACA) here. – Bernama
