Anwar’s purge? Malaysia’s corruption crackdown has PM’s rivals in its sights
Anwar’s purge? Malaysia’s corruption crackdown has PM’s rivals in its sights
In the latest case, public prosecutors on Wednesday accused prominent businessman Robert Tan Hua Choon of misleading the finance ministry in 2019 into granting his company, Spanco, a supply, repair, maintenance and management contract for the federal government’s vehicle fleet, worth nearly 4 billion ringgit (US$840 million).
In their charge sheet, prosecutors said Tan had allegedly “cheated the finance ministry” by misleadingly claiming his firm had set aside at least 30 per cent equity stake for the country’s Malay majority, which is a general government contract requirement.
The 83-year-old businessman, widely seen as close to Daim, enjoyed a long and lucrative distribution monopoly of Casio watches, earning him the moniker Casio King.
Tan claimed trial. He faces up to 10 years in jail, possible whipping and a fine if found guilty, according to his charge sheet. Spanco reportedly signed a 4.5 billion ringgit deal in 2020 to manage the federal government’s fleet of vehicles over a 15-year period.
Previously, the firm ran a 25-year multibillion ringgit concession starting in 1993 – at the height of Mahathir’s first term as prime minister – to supply and manage the federal government’s vehicle fleet.
Tan had in the early 1970s secured sole distribution rights to Casio products, building an empire over the decades that eventually led to the listing of his main firm, Marco Holdings, on the Malaysian exchange’s main board.
“We did ask, ‘What is the investigation on my father about?’ They were not able to furnish us with that information,” Mokhzani Mahathir, 63, said in a Bloomberg report. “Can you imagine you’re being asked to provide information to be used to prosecute your parent?”
The MACC in January ordered Mokhzani and his 65-year-old brother Mirzan – both tycoons in their own right – to declare their assets dating back to 1981 as part of investigations into leaks of offshore business records that were revealed in recent years by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, a global media network.
The nonagenarian, who was discharged last week after spending nearly two months in hospital to treat an infection, has challenged the government to go straight after him instead of his family.
“I am prepared to be investigated. I can tell you which bank accounts, everything. The government can have access. But don’t make use of government law in order to threaten people,” Mahathir said in January, in a warning to Anwar.
Mahathir ‘the primary suspect’ in Malaysia’s anti-corruption probe, sons say
Mahathir ‘the primary suspect’ in Malaysia’s anti-corruption probe, sons say
Anwar, who was jailed a second time for sodomy in 2015, was released on a royal pardon in 2018 after Mahathir rose to an unprecedented second premiership on the back of the former’s Pakatan Harapan coalition.
Anwar and his supporters have denied all charges.
“As I said previously, my honeymoon is over, now go catch the bees,” King Ibrahim said in a Facebook post, referring to what he told Azam.