Hamzah sends MACC letter of demand over link to RM15 million graft case

Opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin has alleged abuse of power among top officials of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), including its chief commissioner, Azam Baki, over a RM15 million corruption case involving him and a businessman, Steven Sim.

He said that, based on a police report, Sim had been investigated and threatened with criminal charges and imprisonment if he did not link the Larut MP with the case.

"This is tyranny. Why must they do such things?

"After this case emerged, I was summoned for an investigation, and I want to make it known that I have not engaged in corrupt activities as they have implied," he said in a press conference today.

The police report stated that MACC officers had accused Sim of receiving a total of RM15 million and questioned whether he had given that money to Hamzah.

Sim was also held in the MACC lockup and repeatedly asked to admit that he had given money to Hamzah, with the assurance of freedom if he did so.

"The truth is, I (Sim) did not give him any money," the report read.

Previously, Hamzah, who is Bersatu secretary-general, said that Sim had been brought to court by MACC, claiming that the conviction also implicated his name.

Hamzah said his lawyers have sent a letter of demand to MACC and Azam.

"Azam and several MACC officers have abused their power and conspired to make me seen as someone who had committed an offence," the Larut MP added.

Among other things, Hamzah said the letter of demand urged the agency to be politically neutral as civil servants.