Sabah government pledges cooperation with MACC over alleged bribery claims by whistleblower

KUALA LUMPUR: Amid allegations of a bribery scandal involving several local elected assemblymen, Sabah Chief Minister Hajiji Noor said he has “nothing to hide”, while calling on the authorities to investigate the matter. 

Political analysts whom CNA spoke to on Wednesday (Nov 13) said that if not dealt with properly, the saga could have implications for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s administration – which looks to Sabah as a political ally – and the premier’s commitment to anti-corruption. 

The issue first came to the fore over the weekend after online news portal Malaysiakini reported on a whistleblower’s allegations of a group of Sabah state assemblymen allegedly negotiating hundreds of thousands of ringgit in bribes in exchange for support for a state project.

Malaysiakini reported on Saturday that it had “sighted” the videos – each featuring a different assemblyman. One of the alleged assemblymen – whose face was not visible in the videos – could be heard discussing terms for the repayment of the purported bribes since the licence for the state project was rescinded. 

A video – not part of the initial eight – and a voice recording were then sent to Malaysiakini purportedly implicating a “top leader” of the state. 

Malaysiakini reported on Tuesday that the latest video featured former Sabah Mineral Management (SMM) chief executive officer Jontih Enggihon accusing Mr Hajiji of abusing his powers. 

SMM is a government-linked company, chaired by Mr Hajiji. 

According to Malaysiakini, it was also shown documents related to the rescinded project and online banking details linked to the alleged bribes. The whistleblower however has urged Malaysiakini not to expose the assemblymen who were in the initial eight videos yet.

Mr Hajiji told local media on Tuesday that he was aware of the allegations. 

“We urge the authorities to investigate, we will cooperate but do investigate to the bribe giver, he has a malicious intention to get something from the government and once he could not get it, (the audio recording) comes out so for me, to be fair, arrest him first,” Mr Hajiji told reporters. 

“The Sabah government is in a good state and is running well. The (audio clip) is just an accusation. We have nothing to hide,” he was quoted as saying by Free Malaysia Today.

Local media reported that senior officers from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had met a lawyer – who was representing the alleged whistleblower – over the case on Nov 8. 

The lawyer had purportedly played a 17-second audio recording whereby several people, including one believed to be a politician, were heard having a conversation about money.

According to Malaysiakini, it involved an assemblyman discussing returning some “RM500,000” – or about US$112,000 – he had received in exchange for supporting a state project.