Arrested Umno Sabah on RM300 million CBT charge released

Umno Sepanggar division head Jumat Idris, one of eight divisional leaders who met with Najib on July 10 sees the MACC’s involvement as motivated by revenge on the part of those against the “transition plan”.

KOTA KINABALU: An Umno Sabah divisional leader, allegedly involved in a transition plan for the Sabah government leadership, was released by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on Friday after being held for one day to facilitate investigations into a corruption case.

The release was confirmed by the MACC in a statement on Tuesday.

The statement, by MACC director of investigations Mohd Jamidan Abdullah added that the suspect was under investigation for alleged criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving RM300 million.

“He is being investigated under Section 17(a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 for allegations of corruption elements involving a government owned land compensation deal,” said Mohd Jamidan.

“He was released after his statement was recorded.”

It’s believed that a former general manager of Sabah Land Development Board (SLDB) was also detained overnight on Friday by MACC to facilitate investigations into the case. The Sabah Umno divisional leader who is a suspect in the case is a former deputy chairman of the SLDB.

Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman said in a statement that he had no details on the case.

“We have nothing to hide. We leave it to MACC and other relevant authorities to investigate,” said Musa who also heads Umno Sabah and Barisan Nasional Sabah.

He called on the people to stop all speculation on the case in the interest of justice for those being investigated and stressed that the Sabah government practised transparency.

Umno Sepanggar division head Jumat Idris, one of eight divisional leaders who met with Najib on July 10 on the transition plan, took issue in a Facebook posting on the detention of the Umno Sabah divisional leader. He thinks that it could be motivated by revenge on the part of those against the “transition plan”.

Jumat is not the divisional leader who was held by MACC.

Besides Jumat, the seven other divisional leaders who discussed the transition plan with Najib have been confirmed as Bolkiah Ismail (Kudat); James Ratib (Beluran); Rubin Balang (Tenom); Ghani Yassin (Pensiangan); Sairin Karno (Keningau); John Ambrose (Penampang); and Wetrom Bahanda (Kota Kinabalu).

By John Joseph