‘Like Najib’s 1MDB playbook’: Malaysia’s anti-corruption chief Azam Baki faces ridicule in stock saga
- Controversy is mounting over a claim by the head of the MACC that his sibling had ‘borrowed’ his trading account to purchase millions of ringgit of shares
- While the Securities Commission says it will seek an explanation, the slow response has critics drawing parallels to a scandal at the state investment fund
Malaysia’s Securities Commission on Thursday said it would seek an explanation from the country’s anti-corruption chief over a mounting controversy surrounding the official’s claim that his sibling had “borrowed” his trading account to purchase millions of ringgit of shares.
The episode surrounding Azam Baki has once again cast a negative light on the under-fire Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), following several recent cases of officers embezzling funds or acting inappropriately.
In the latest saga, Azam, 58, had been the subject of weeks of online speculation after an anonymous social media account alleged that he had owned a substantial amount of shares in Malaysian firms between 2015 and 2016, when he was already a senior official in the agency.
As a civil servant, Azam is prohibited from owning shares of any listed company worth more than 100,000 ringgit (US$23,700).
To compound his woes, prominent local economist Edmund Terence Gomez last week resigned from one of the MACC’s external advisory bodies, citing concerns over official inaction surrounding allegations of impropriety against Azam.