Controversy
In April 2012, Musa Aman was linked to a timber corruption scandal as per the leaked Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) documents published by the website Sarawak Report. Musa was accused for having close relationship with Sabah timber trader Michael Chia, where the latter was detained in Hong Kong in 2008 for trying to smuggle S$16 million (RM40 million) to Musa. Sarawak Report further revealed that Michael Chia was responsible for Musa's sons expenses in Australia. Dato' Seri Anifah Aman, brother of Musa Aman, was also accused for being a secret beneficiary of lucrative timber licenses. Abdul Gani Patail, the Malaysian Attorney-General who is close to Musa family, was alleged to have blocked the MACC investigation into this case. However, Musa Aman denied his link with Michael Chia, while accusing Sarawak Report for defaming him.
On 11 October 2012, in a written reply to the Parliament, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said Musa Aman has been cleared of the alleged RM40 million kickbacks for timber licences by the Attorney-General's Chambers as “the funds were contributions to the Sabah Umno liaison body and not for the personal use of the chief minister". He also said that the Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and Malaysian Attorney-General chamber has cleared Musa of corruption after the Malaysian MACC has provided information in this case. The Malaysian Prime Minister, Najib Tun Razak, refused to disclose the source of the political donation but he insisted that the money was funded through legitimate channels.
In response to the reply by Najib, Sarawak Report released another set of documents on 14 October which pointed the donors to Sabah and Sarawak timber tycoons. On 22 October, Nazri said that Michael Chia was never arrested and the S$16 million was actually frozen in an investment account in Hong Kong. This money was later cleared to be transferred to Swiss bank. As on 25 October, Hong Kong's ICAC refused to disclose any details regarding the probe which reportedly cleared Musa Aman from corruption charges.
On 1 November, PKR leaders and Sarawak Report revealed that Nazri's son was given American Hummer H2 by Michael Chia back in March 2011. This revelation raises the possible questions of conflict of interest between Nazri and Michael Chia. However, Nazri sees no problem with the ownership of the Hummer by his son. Nazri also said that he just merely read out the statement from MACC that has cleared Musa from corruption and he insisted that he has not influenced MACC in handling the Musa Aman case.
Read more about this topic: Musa Aman
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