KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 21): Reforms to enhance the independence of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) by decoupling from the country’s executive branch is still a “work-in-progress”, said National Anti-Financial Crime Centre (NFCC) director general Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali.

“That is [a] work-in-progress... the [development of a] check-and-balance mechanism. When I was in MACC, the initiative was mooted, we talked about the MACC being really independent rather than answering to the [Prime Minister's Department],” he said. Mustafar, formerly deputy chief commissioner (prevention) of MACC, was speaking at a forum on “Examining the link between corruption and high-risk crimes identified in the national risk assessment”, which was organised by the anti-graft agency, on Wednesday (Sept 21).

“Then again, even MACC at that time [was] under the Prime Minister's Department, it is not because we report to the prime minister or the PMO (Prime Minister's Office), but for the purpose of budget, personnel, that’s all.

“Because we need to address the changes or amendments to the Federal Constitution and to the legislation, so it is a work-in-progress,” he added.

Other panellists at the forum included Bank Negara Malaysia's financial intelligence and enforcement department director Mohd Fuad Arshad, MACC’s anti-money laundering division director Mohamad Zamri Zainul Abidin, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation assistant legal attaché Eugene Wu, and human rights non-governmental organisation North South Initiative co-founder Adrian Pereira.

Mustafar had served the MACC for 30 years before he was transferred to the Immigration Department as its DG in August 2016, together with then-chief commissioner Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed when the law enforcement agency was investigating the 1Malaysia Development Bhd scandal.

Mustafar, who retired as Immigration Department DG by end-2018 and was appointed to head NFCC in 2019, said when it comes to MACC’s investigation, the agency reports its cases to the Attorney General’s Chamber (AGC) instead of the Prime Minister's Department.

MACC’s Mohamad Zamri also likened the agency’s reporting structure to private sector business organisations, where day-to-day operational matters like salary, leave and budget are usually approved by the management instead of the board of directors.

“Clearly you can see recently the [outcome] of the former prime minister [case], the system works. The Prime Minister's Department is on budget. We are not answering to the prime minister. Like in the case of [Court of Appeal judge] Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali, we submitted to the AGC and the AGC passed back to us, so the process is there,” he explained.