Too Early To Say No Corruption In Klia Incident Macc Chief

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MACC chief Azam Baki said today that it is still too early to make any conclusions on investigations surrounding the recent incident involving KLIA immigration officials.
Bernama reported Azam as citing a media report, which has since been taken down, quoting sources who claimed that the probe found no elements of corruption in the incident that also implicated Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Tiong King Sing.
"The media is urged not to sensationalise (the incident) by quoting irrelevant sources.
"This (to make a conclusion) is still too early because we (MACC) just started our probe, there are witnesses that we need to call and record their statements," Azam told Bernama.
"We want a detailed investigation and at the end after it's over, we will submit it to the prosecution or the Attorney-General's Chambers, and only then it can be decided if there are elements of corruption or otherwise."
He added that MACC will also be probing parties responsible to handle foreigners who have been served with Not-To-Land orders and must be deported.
On Wednesday, Azam said the anti-graft body had recorded statements from at least 14 individuals including Tiong, two Chinese nationals and eight immigration officers.
Tiong had at around 3am on June 29 entered KLIA's immigration counters after he was notified that a Chinese national had been denied entry.
Tiong later claimed his "rescue" of the woman had exposed corruption among officials in KLIA and that the Chinese national was not the first to receive such treatment when arriving in Malaysia.
Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has since said his ministry will fully cooperate with the MACC to investigate allegations of corruption by immigration officers in handling foreign tourists at the country’s entry points.- Mkini

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