For The Police Force To Fly What Weighs It Down Must Go

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They were words usually used in closed-door meetings where matters of importance are spoken and meant just for those in the room.
The earful delivered by the boss to his subordinates was made without reservations and a video clip of Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department (CID) chief Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain was shared on Royal Malaysia Police’s official Facebook page.
For the first time, a senior officer was acknowledging that some in his flock were up to no good or colluding with criminals.
If it was an admonishment of sorts, it was long overdue. But to say his words reflected the situation within the police force would be the truth.
For a long time, the issue of the involvement of senior officers in corruption has been poo-pooed and investigations by internal committees and consigned to files gathering dust in some obscure steel cabinet in Bukit Aman.
Shuhaily’s (above) demeanour in the deportment of the message was a show of urgency to put matters right in the police force whose image had been in tatters after a series of blunders year after year.
The deaths in police lock-ups, the unlawful killings of civilians, the abuse of authority, arbitrary arrests, and unauthorised detention – have all been chronicled in the courts and in law reports.
‘Real’ situation
Right-thinking Malaysians would certainly support Shuhaily and thank him for an honest and no-holds-barred address not to mata-mata (constables) but to CID contingent chiefs and CID division chiefs nationwide.
His stance - either you change, or you will be changed - can only be reflected as the “real” situation on the ground whose clean-up was long overdue.
But Shuhaily stopped short of saying: “I will brook no interference from any quarter. If in the past, some of you had political “Godfathers” to protect you, consider that they do not exist anymore.”
In at least two high-publicised cases, the executive had interfered with or protected supposed wrongdoers.
In 2007, in a special report headlined “Top Cop v Top Cop”, Malaysiakini outlined what was then an ongoing tiff between the then inspector-general of police Musa Hassan and Ramli Yusuff, the head of the Commercial Crime Investigation Department, who was once his superior.
Drawn into this was the then deputy internal security minister Johari Baharum was alleged to have received RM5.5 million in bribes to release three gangsters held under the Emergency Ordinance, which allows detention without trial.
Former IGP Musa HassanFive years later, Malaysiakini obtained documents revealing the history of how a number of whistleblowers - whose information led to the arrest of Johor kingpin Goh Cheng Poh aka Tengku Goh in 2007 - were forced to implicate six police officers investigating the case.
It was again a Musa vs Ramli feud with the then attorney-general and the Anti-Corruption Agency (now known as the MACC) making supposedly cameo appearances.
Charges were proffered on Ramli on various charges but he was cleared and now is a practising lawyer while Musa retired and recently was in the news for taking a new wife. This was months after a tiff with his ex-wife.
In 2018, the then-head of CID Wan Ahmad Najmuddin Mohd faced an Australian Federal Police (AFP) corruption probe after A$320,000 (about RM970,000) was found in his Sydney bank account which was suspected to be proceeds of crime.
The money was forfeited after he could not account for the monies in his account to the AFP.
Nearly A$290,000 flowed into Najmuddin's account over one month in 2016 in cash drops around Australia, after he had returned to Malaysia. Fifty-four deposits fell below the A$10,000 threshold at which law enforcement agencies receive mandatory notifications.
The Sydney Morning Herald said Najmuddin has denied wrongdoing, citing legal costs as the reason he did not attempt to reclaim the money.
‘Naivety’
Then-home minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi came to the defence of Najmuddin, saying that the senior officer was perhaps “naive” about the Australian legal system.
Former CID chief Wan Ahmad Najmuddin Mohd“This matter arose since 2016… Najmuddin mentioned the real source of the money was the sale of a home to finance his child’s education in Australia, but the law of that country requires a transaction of over A$10,000 to obtain special permission.
“So maybe Najmuddin is a little naive about the legal system in Australia.
“But he has explained the matter to the authorities and also personally to myself. We accept his explanation in very good faith,” he was quoted as saying by Bernama.
I then wrote: “The fact remains that various sums of money were deposited into his account – below the AUS$10,000 threshold each time. The Australian reported that Najmuddin wrote off the money and did not attempt to get it back from the authorities, citing high legal costs.”
Zahid said that Najmuddin claimed he sold his house for RM700,000 and the proceeds were sent to Australia to fund the education of his two children.
I then posed a series of questions, including: “How did RM700,000 turn into AUS$320, 000 (RM970,000)” and “Why would anyone just allow RM879,000 to be forfeited when there are legitimate ways of getting the money back? One former Australian editor remarked that he would ‘kill any kangaroo or wallaby’ to get his money.”
As a footnote, I wrote: “The only way to come out of this issue unscathed is for Najmuddin to answer the questions posed.”
As usual, no answers were forthcoming, but for Shuhaily’s benefit, let me say there was indeed change. Naivety, it seems, comes with rewards.
Najmuddin retired with a full pension and now sits on the board of two public-listed companies. - Mkini
R NADESWARAN is a veteran journalist who writes on bread-and-butter issues. Comments: [email protected]
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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