Suspected middleman yet to be questioned over bribe
PETALING JAYA: Twenty-two people, including Immigration officers, have had their statements recorded over the KL International Airport (KLIA) commotion involving Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing.
As investigators were rounding up the case, Selangor police chief Comm Datuk Hussein Omar Khan said the police had taken statements from 12 Immigration Department officers and four auxiliary police, among others.
“So far, we have received four reports on the incident but have yet to classify the case. The inquiry paper will be passed to the Attorney General’s Chambers for further instruction today,” he said, adding the document was more to facilitate fact-finding over the incident.
Footage from CCTV had also been viewed to determine if there was any element of crime involved, which could be classified accordingly under the appropriate Act, he added.
It was reported that Tiong, the Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister, caused a commotion at KLIA when he went to assist a Chinese national, who was allegedly held up by Immigration officers on arrival from Shenzhen on June 29.
The foreign woman, said to be an employee of a Chinese TV station, claimed that she was denied entry due to discrepancies in her travel documents by the officers, who asked her to pay several thousand ringgit. She had come with her superior, who was cleared and allowed entry.On Monday, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki said Tiong and two others were present at the commission’s headquarters to have their statements recorded.
An MACC source told Bernama that several Immigration officers involved in the incident would also be called to give their statements. The source further revealed that the anti-graft agency had identified a person, suspected of being the middleman in “solving” the case involving a foreign tourist, who allegedly failed to comply with entry requirements set by the Immigration Department.“We are tracking down the agent who allegedly asked for a bribe of RM18,000 to solve the case,” the source said.
Azam, when contacted yesterday, said the case is being investigated under Section 16 (a) of the MACC Act 2009.
“All parties are urged not to make any speculation and to give MACC time to complete the investigation,” he added.
