Former MACC director: You may have the power, but I have Allah on my side

KUALA LUMPUR (July 31): After the conviction of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on Tuesday, Datuk Bahri Mohammad Zin, the former director of the Special Operations division of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) remembers putting everything on the line during investigations into the 1MDB scandal in 2015.

“During investigations in July 2015, it was the fasting month and my men did not go back to our homes for sahur. We stayed late in the office to gather evidence. All this was done discreetly,” he told The Edge Malaysia.

Bahri’s division and the MACC were part of the task force set up by then attorney-general Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail to investigate 1MDB.

In August that year with Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin being sacked as deputy PM and Gani removed a few days earlier, “Bahri and several of his colleagues felt out in the cold, lone figures in the investigation of 1MDB”, wrote the weekly.

Bahri told business publication that the police “entrusted to investigate 1MDB had attempted to disrupt the investigations and tried to destroy the chain of evidence”.

“Fortunately, the evidence gathered was kept safely. It resulted in my relying more on Allah and I made a promise to hunt down those who gave the directions to disrupt our probe.

“That made me say, ‘You may have the power, but I have Allah on my side.’ That was the reason for my strong defiance against Najib,” he revealed.

As for the court’s verdict on Najib, Bahri said: “Thank God, the judge, an independent entity, had found the former premier guilty, which I felt all along. My experience should serve as a reminder to all civil servants and elected representatives that they honour the people’s trust and that they are also being looked after by God.”

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Read the full report in this week’s The Edge Malaysia