Remand of Bersatu treasurer-general necessary to assist investigation - MACC

PUTRAJAYA - The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) explains that the remand order obtained against Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) treasurer-general Datuk Mohamed Salleh Bajuri is to assist the agency's investigation into the party's fund expenditure.

Its chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki said as an enforcement agency, MACC needed to follow the rules and laws.

"I have left it to the MACC investigating officers to carry out their duty and they believed that there is a need to carry out the arrest and remand.

"This is a discretionary power that we use from time to time depending on the case," he said in a press conference after attending the signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between MACC, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Mara and Malaysian Institute of Accountants, here, today.

On Saturday, it was reported that Bersatu secretary-general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said MACC had no reasonable grounds to apply for Salleh’s remand on grounds of investigation.

Therefore, he said, Bersatu believed that Salleh's remand was to add pressure to its leaders and officers to find wrongdoings that did not exist.

Hamzah said Bersatu’s financial statements were audited every year and approved in the Annual General Meeting.

Salleh was remanded for two days from Thursday after he was called to the MACC headquarters on Wednesday to explain about the payments made by Bersatu to the party's suppliers and vendors.

In January, MACC reported that several Bersatu bank accounts were frozen for investigation into the case involving the party's funds.