Investigations into the serious corruption allegations against the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) director general Datuk Seri Zulkipli Mat Noor is getting even more curiouser and curiouser by the day.
The attempt by ACA’s former Disciplinary Management Centre chief and currently ACA Negri Sembilan director, Halim Ibrahim to publicly exonerate the ACA chief by revealing details of Zulkipli’s various declaration of assets in public service is not only most unusual, unprecedented but questionable.
Is the ACA trying to derail and sabotage task force investigations into serious corruption allegations against ACA chief by unilaterally releasing unverified information about Zulkifli’s assets declarations?
The Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan had announced on Friday that a special task force comprising senior police officers and deputy public prosecutors and excluding the ACA will investigate the serious corruption allegations against Zulkipli. Its first task is to check with all relevant departments, agencies and the Securities Commission for records of businesses, licences, properties, assets or shares related to Zulkipli.
Musa added: “While the task force is now doing through records of his properties, I am waiting for the financial analysis on the properties he has declared.
“The task force is also checking on what Zulkipli has declared and how much the properties are worth. We will then tailor our investigations according to the Attorney-General’s advice.”
Musa’s seems to have set out a term of reference for the special task force which is very much narrower and restricted than one spelt out by the Attorney-General, Tan Sri Gani Patail last Wednesday when he publicly directed the police to “speed up” investigations into the serious corruption allegations against Zulkipli. (NST 1.3.07)
Gani had said the investigations would include checks against the asset declarations made by Zulkipli, and comparing the asset declarations as to how one pays or finances one’s properties.
He said: “Such investigations would include checks on the financial position of one’s family members to ascertain their contribution to the household income.”
In this connection, in the interests of accountability, transparency and integrity as well as public confidence in the investigations into the serious corruption allegations against Zulkipli, the composition of the special task force and who is heading the investigation should be publicly announced.