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Malaysia’s anti-corruption drive spreads to Borneo as Sabah’s former chief minister Musa Aman hit with 35 charges
- Former chief minister of Sabah is accused of accepting bribes worth US$63 million in connection with timber concessions
- Dealings alleged to have taken place in Hong Kong and Singapore
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The former chief minister of Sabah has become the latest high-ranking figure from Malaysia’s former ruling coalition, the Barisan Nasional, to face corruption charges, in a sign the new government is expanding its anti-graft drive beyond the peninsula.
Musa Aman was on Monday charged with 35 counts of corruption for allegedly accepting bribes worth US$63 million in connection with timber concessions.
These dealings allegedly took place in Hong Kong and Singapore between 2004 – a year after Musa came to power – and 2008.
The charges are part of an aggressive anti-corruption clampdown spearheaded by the newly-minted Pakatan Harapan government, which in the May general elections toppled the Barisan Nasional from power after a six-decade stint in office.
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Since then, several high-ranking members of the Barisan Nasional coalition’s lead component party, the United Malays National Organisation (Umno), have been charged with graft, money-laundering, and tax evasion, among other offences.
The most high-profile of these cases is that of disgraced former prime minister, Najib Razak, and his wife Rosmah Mansor, who face multiple charges relating to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad global financial scandal.
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