PETALING JAYA: A political party deputy state head and two directors of a company in Ipoh were arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) yesterday in relation to an award for a contract in 2019.
MACC said in a statement they had seized RM1.2 million believed to be bribe money from a house and an office.
The commission said they had also seized a luxury car, believed to be owned by one of the company directors, which was used by a former minister as his official car.
MACC said they had also frozen accounts of a company and individuals totalling RM77 million and the investigation is still ongoing.
Earlier, former water, land and natural resources minister Datuk Xavier Jayakumar came out to clear his name in an ongoing corruption probe involving Perak PKR deputy chairman MA Thinagaran.
In statement, Xavier, who is PKR vice president, said he had never condoned corruption in the Pakatan Harapan government.
“Acting on the advice of my family and friends, I am here to clear my name with the authorities.
“Leaders tied to corruption must be held to account to preserve the integrity of our institution and we are responsible to show good governance,“ he said.
Xavier said major decisions made by ministries must be approved collectively in the Cabinet.
A source meanwhile told theSun that Thinagaran was never a special aide to Xavier.
He said this in response to a report in a news portal which claimed Thinagaran was Xavier’s special aide.
He added that Xavier knew Thinagaran as a party member and they could be described as friends.
The source said the luxury car seized by the MACC as part of their probe into Thinagaran, never belonged to him.
“The car belongs to an acquaintance who knew both Xavier and Thinagaran.
“It should be noted that Xavier, while he was a minister, used the official car allocated to him by the government.
“He borrowed the luxury car as a means of transport after the PH government fell,“ the source said.
Xavier hoped the public would not create any speculation regarding the MACC probe.
