KUCHING: The arrest of a Sarawak federal minister’s political secretary over his alleged involvement in a graft case is not the first time allegations of corruption involving that particular ministry has surfaced.
As of today, the minister concerned has refused to make any comment about the arrest, unlike before where he threatened to take legal action on a tabloid over allegations of irregularities, which amongst others included the appointment of a training company.
This happened in May 2014 where he was reported by an English daily as going to take legal action against the tabloid for its article that allegedly contained baseless and false allegations against his ministry’s agency.
He even lodged a police report against the tabloid and had invited the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to check if there was any wrongdoing by the Human Resources Development Funds (HRDF).
Meanwhile, Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) president Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian said the party would not tolerate members guilty of corruption-related offences.
He said the party takes a firm stand against corruption and welcomed the investigation by MACC into the graft allegations against the political secretary who is an SUPP member.
“We will not cover up anyone who misused public funds or abused their powers, be it in the party or the state cabinet,” Dr Sim, who is also the State Housing and Local Government Minister, was quoted as saying.
He was commenting on the arrest of the political secretary over the alleged misappropriation of millions of ringgit that were channelled into the Skill Development Fund Corporation.
The 61-year-old man was arrested at the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya yesterday afternoon.
It was reported that that prior to the arrest, personnel from the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya joined by their counterparts in Sarawak, also raided the man’s office in Serian division recently.
It is understood that several documents were seized to facilitate investigation into the case.
