Political opponents blame me for corruption case: Shafie Apdal

KOTA KINABALU: Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal today alleged that pining the blame on him for the Sabah Water Department corruption case was malicious and politically motivated.
He said he was caught by surprise when Sabah deputy chief minister, Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan said the RM3.3 billion worth of federal funds had come from the Rural and Regional Development Ministry during his (Shafie's) tenure.
He said it was quite amusing that the state authority was in a haste to plead its innocence publicly and diverting the blame to the ministry he had helmed when the investigation by the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) was still on-going.
Saying he had known Pairin for several decades and was a friend, Shafie said he was surprised that he (Pairin) had specifically made some malicious inference when he mentioned that the projects allegedly connected to the corruption scandals were awarded in 2010 during his (Shafie) tenure as minister.
"If it is true that the decision came from my ministry, then why was all the money found in the state department? It's not logical — it does not make sense," he said.
Pairin had released a statement on Friday saying that the Rural and Regional Development Ministry channelled the money directly to the Sabah Water Department, and that his ministry had no knowledge of the projects.
Shafie in denying his involvement in the scandal said Pairin had thrown malicious inference that the projects were not handled by the state ministry.
"There is no way that the state government would not be aware of such a big allocation, and that any funding from the federal government would always involve state officials such as those in the state public works department and infrastructure department," he said, claiming that people who were trying to blame him were playing "politics".
The former Umno vice president said he was not blaming anyone and he had nothing to do with the two state officials, adding that he did not know them, appoint them or even engage with them.
He said he categorically denied the allegations and inferences of the involvement of his former ministry's involvement in the alleged corrupt acts.
A special MACC task force involving 70 personnel has been working on the case since last year and are unexpected to uncover more money in bank accounts abroad.
The 54-year-old director of the State Water Department, his 51-year-old deputy, his 55-year-old businessman brother who carries the title "Datuk", and his accountant are being investigated for corruption involving RM3.3 billion in federal projects awarded to 38 firms belonging to the two siblings and their proxies.
Some RM115 million worth of cash, bank accounts, 19.3kg of jewellery, 94 handbags and foreign currency was seized from the duo along with nine luxury cars, watches, and 127 land grants.