Don’t assume they’re guilty, Riot says of those under MACC probe
KUCHING: Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Richard Riot Jaem has urged the public not to assume that those arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to facilitate investigations in connection with the misappropriation of allocation channelled to the Skills Development Fund Corporation are guilty.
"A person is innocent until proven guilty. (By) Being investigated, it doesn't mean they are convicted (guilty). Most people take it that the moment they are remanded by MACC, the first thing they will say '(they) have committed a crime, already convicted'. That should not be the way," he said in Kajang yesterday.
Riot was asked to comment on the arrest of five suspects, including his ministry's political secretary, to facilitate investigations in connection with the misappropriation of allocation for the Skills Development Fund Corporation.
MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Dzulkifli Ahmad said the MACC arrested the political secretary at 12.30pm on Wednesday.
Dzulkifli said the political secretary was the fifth individual arrested by MACC to facilitate investigation on the matter.
On Sept 13, MACC arrested four individuals for allegedly embezzling government funds totalling RM40 million, which should be channelled to a skills corporation for training programmes.
Those arrested were a 58-yearold with 'Datuk' title; a 34-year-old corporate secretary; 32-year-old assistant financial officer and a company director, 38, at several locations in the federal capital in a special MACC operation.
All four individuals were remanded for six days from Sept 14 and were later released on MACC bail.
On the latest arrest, Riot said he was just being called in to assist MACC in their investigation into the case.
Despite the case, he said the Skills Development Fund Corporation was still operating as usual.
"But whether there is any more arrest I wouldn't know. In fact, when it was first brought up, I issued a statement that we were caught by surprise. All of us were caught by surprise. In fact, it was my ministry's secretary general who alerted me."