KUALA LUMPUR, May 15 — The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has dismissed a news portal report's claims of the recent arrest of five members of the Perlis State Legislative Assembly.
When contacted, MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki said the arrest report linked to the investigation on the abuse of power and corruption involving the son of the Perlis Menteri Besar was untrue.
"That (allegation) is not true... it is just a rumour," he said.
Yesterday, a news portal reported that a senior political leader in the state claimed five Perlis state assemblymen would be arrested by the MACC in the near future.
This comes after the arrest of the Perlis Menteri Besar's son who was detained by the commission at the end of April for allegedly making false claims for work that was not carried out amounting to RM600,000.
Meanwhile, Perlis Menteri Besar Mohd Shukri Ramli said he is open to the MACC conducting an investigation if needed.
"It is just rumours; we are open, if there is anything, let us investigate, but I do not think it is...as far as I know the five people (state assemblymen) are not arrested," he told the press after chairing the Exco Meeting at the State Legislative Assembly Complex today.
Shukri added that the state government plans to place an MACC officer in the state administration office. The proposal will be studied together with the State Secretary as well as the State Legal Adviser and State Finance Officer.
"Because the MACC officer is only on loan to the state, the salary must be borne by the state. The terms and conditions are already there, just the state requirements, which we will discuss more thoroughly before we decide," he said.
It is understood that the MACC is completing investigation papers related to the case of Perlis Menteri Besar's son, along with several other individuals who were allegedly involved in submitting documents and false claims worth RM600,000 over the past two years, and the investigation is expected to be completed next week.
— Bernama
