Putrajaya MACC's senior acting superintendent, Ahmad Shafik Abdul Rahman @ Alwee, said he had taken over the case on Aug 27, 2009 from the Selangor office after the death of Ean Yong's political aide, Teoh Beng Hock.
Teoh's body was found on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam, Shah Alam on July 16, 2009. He had been questioned overnight as a witness at the Selangor MACC office on Level 14 of the building.
The RCI is looking into Teoh's death and the MACC's interrogation procedures. It was formed after an 18-month inquest delivered an open verdict, ruling out suicide or homicide as the cause of death.
Testifying this morning, Ahmad S
hafik said that, from his investigations, there was “no evidence to prove that Ean Yong (right) had committed an offence under Section 18 of the MACC Act”.
The provision deals with an agent's intention to deceive his or her principal.
It reads in full: 'A person commits an offence if he gives to an agent, or
being an agent he uses with intent to deceive his principal, any
receipt, account or other document in respect of which the principal
is interested, and which he has reason to believe contains any
statement which is false or erroneous or defective in any material
particular, and is intended to mislead the principal.'
In an immediate response, Ean Yong said on his Facebook page, "After almost two years of waiting, justice finally arrived."
Up to the time of Teoh's death, the probe had been handled by Mohd Anuar Ismail of Selangor MACC.
MACC officers had previously told the RCI that four companies paid through Ean Yong's Seri Kembangan constituency funds had not executed any work on the projects awarded.
They had also said that one basis of the probe was the discovery of four copies "incomplete" invoices found in Teoh's(left) laptop, and which were deemed "suspicious".
The companies were named as MKMN Enterprise, Syarikat Aris, Fizami Construction and MA Bina Melor Enterprise.
However, Ahmad Shafik said today that all projects had been completed and that there were no grounds to prove otherwise.
"I ordered my officers to investigate the vouchers (found in Teoh's laptop and the claims vouchers from the Petaling District and Land office) and we found that all projects were completed," he said.
The payments to DAP Malaysia and the party's Seri Aman branch amounted to reimbursement of cash advances.
Ahmad Shafik noted that all Selangor assemblypersons receive an annual allocation of RM500,000.
Executive councillors get an additional sum of RM100,000. The District and Land Office acts as custodian of the allocations.
Process explained
Conducting officer Awang Amardajaya Awang Mahmud then asked: "How did you ascertain that the projects were finished according to specifications?"
"It is from the statement recorded from Lee Wye Wing and receipts of the transactions that were given to us," said Ahmad Shafik(right).
Lee was among the contractors who had often executed projects and programmes in the Seri Kembangan constituency, as well as in Kuala Kubu Bharu, where Ean Yong serves as'Adun angkat'.
Since Kuala Kubu Bharu is under MCA - and therefore opposition - assemblyperson Wong Koon Mun, Ean Yong was entrusted with the constituency allocation of RM500,000.
Ahmad Shafik pointed out, however, that Lee had submitted more than 50 receipts and that the MACC was unable to ascertain which receipt was issued for which project.
"The bumiputera contractors involved had lent their business licences to Lee and he was the one who coordinated and managed all the projects and programmes in the Seri Kembangan and Kuala Kubu Bharu state constituencies,” said Ahmad Shafik.
"Lee only communicated with Teoh, never with Ean Yong directly, and each meeting was face to face or via email. If the project was approved by (the state), Teoh would give Lee the green light. Upon completion, Ean Yong would issue the claims documents which were sent to the Land Office."
RCI chairperson James Foong then asked why the Selangor MACC had investigated the case.
Ahmad Shafik: I don't know why.
Foong: What were they looking for? What was the crime then?
Ahmad Shafik:(Selangor MACC) investigated this based on a complaint that claims were made for incomplete projects.
Commissioner T Selventhiranathan suggested that "investigation should have been done to determine the truth of the complaint", to which Ahmad Shafik agreed.
Responding to questions by Bar Council lawyer S Sivanendiren, Ahmad Shafik said that he sent the completed investigation papers to Hishamuddin Hashim, the deputy director of private sector investigation, who was previously in charge of the probe as Selangor MACC deputy director.
Ahmad Shafik was then told to get DAP's bank details and transaction vouchers to authenticate Lee's statement.
Before proceeding with the directive, Ahmad Shafik said he consulted MACC's deputy chief commissioner (operations) Mohd Shukri Abdull, who was then the investigations director.
Foong: Was it done?
Ahmad Shafik: For your information Your Honour, the circumstances in which I took over case were unusual - a witness had died, the other witnesses weren't cooperative, officers were threatened, etc.
"The orders from (Mohd) Shukri were that we don't need to probe further into DAP's bank account because it had no relevance to the case, which was being investigated under Section 18 (of the MACC Act)," he said.
Once he completed the investigation, he added, the papers were sent to the deputy public prosecutor - and he was ordered to stop looking further into the matter
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