By Yow Hong Chieh June 09, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, June 9 — Both the police and the national anti-graft agency must respond to claims by blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin that police found no proof of unusual wealth in the assets of deceased Customs officer Ahmad Sarbaini Mohamed, Lim Kit Siang said today.
The DAP parliamentary leader said the authorities should not wait for an inquest or a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) to confirm or deny the allegations, especially as this was the second mysterious death under the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) watch.
Raja Petra, in a post on his Malaysia Today website yesterday, claimed the police had conducted a thorough check on Sarbaini’s assets and found no unusual or extraordinary wealth.
“He (Sarbaini) had only three modest cars — a Perodua Kancil, a second-hand Honda CRV and a Proton Persona — and a Modenas Kriss bike, which he rode to the MACC office on that unfortunate morning of 6th April, the day of his death,” Raja Petra said yesterday.
“He owned an apartment in Bukit Tinggi, Klang (RM65,872), an apartment in Puncak Alam (RM68,988), a semi-D cluster house in Saujana Impian in Sungai Buloh (RM230,000) and RM35,000 in savings in Amanah Saham Bumiputera… All these were duly accounted for.”
Raja Petra has also accused MACC of trying to tarnish Sarbaini’s name following his death.
Lim also said today that the Inspector-General of Police and Attorney-General should reveal the police probe findings to Sarbaini’s family, who believe there is an attempt to cover-up circumstances surrounding Sarbaini’s death.
“Let the Sarbaini family decide whether they want an inquest or a royal commission of inquiry,” Lim said in a statement.
Sarbaini, 56, was found dead on the badminton court of the MACC building in Jalan Cochrane here on April 6 at about 10.20am, barely two hours after walking in.
His death, which occurred while the Teoh Beng Hock RCI was still ongoing, came as a huge blow to the anti-graft body’s already battered credibility.
Teoh, a DAP aide, fell to his death at the then-Selangor MACC office on July 16, 2009. An 18-month inquest returned an open verdict, ruling out both suicide and homicide in Teoh’s death.
The police have recommended an inquest be held for Sarbaini and the A-G has agreed but Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers have criticised the idea, citing Teoh’s case as reason to back their doubts.