Malaysian anti-graft chief returns to stock market after outcry

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian anti-corruption chief Tan Sri Azam Baki held millions of shares in a financial-services company, a corporate filing shows, the first public disclosure of a major stake in his name since an uproar over his shareholdings several years ago spurred protests calling for him to step down.

Azam, chief commissioner of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, or MACC, owned 17.7 million shares of Velocity Capital Partner Bhd., according to an annual filing by Velocity Capital to the Companies Commission of Malaysia on Feb. 3 last year.

The stake would be worth almost RM800,000 as of the close of trading on Monday.

As of Tuesday, Azam still appears on Velocity Capital’s register of shareholders at the Companies Commission, which is available on a paid database and updated regularly. It’s unclear when the shares were acquired. Velocity Capital has yet to make the same filing — known as its annual return — for this year.

Azam, 62, and the MACC didn’t comment when asked about the shareholdings. Velocity Capital, a financial services company listed on the Malaysian stock exchange, didn’t reply torequestsfor comment.

A 2024 Malaysian government circular, which provides guidance on 1993 regulations stipulating the conduct of public officials, says a public servant may purchase shares in a company incorporated in Malaysia on the condition that they don’t exceed 5% of its paid-up capital or RM100,000 in value, whichever is lower. They also must declare assets at least once every five years and at the time of purchase and sale of holdings.

There are no prominent public reports of civil servants being reprimanded or disciplined for their shareholdings.

Transparency International and other anti-graft advocacy groups have long pushed Malaysia’s government to make it mandatory for public servants to publicly declare their assets.

Azam, who is considered to be a public official under the law governing the MACC, hasn’t publicly declared his assets.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has extended Azam’s one-year contract three times past the mandatory retirement age for public officials. Anwar has defended his decisions, saying Azam has shown “extraordinary courage” in going after powerful figures allegedly involved in corruption and abuse of power.

Azam’s current contract is due to end in May.

Anwar’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment. 

Azam faced a public outcry after a Malaysian journalist reported in late 2021 on his stockholdings and questioned whether they breached rules for public officials on owning and declaring assets. Protesters marched in Kuala Lumpur in January 2022, calling for his resignation and arrest.

At the time, Azam said one of his brothers had used his trading account to buy shares. The Securities Commission Malaysia investigated and determined that Azam didn’t breach securities law, saying it found no conclusive evidence that anyone else had used his account. No other disciplinary action has been disclosed.

Azam sued Lalitha Kunaratnam, the journalist who wrote the 2021 reports, for defamation, seeking RM10mil in damages. The case was settled in 2024 on undisclosed terms, with neither side admitting fault. Lalitha declined to comment.

Velocity Capital says on its website it is pivoting from its previous core businesses in transportation, logistics and ceramics to focus on the financial services industry, specialising in moneylending. Its shares, which have fallen 50% since a peak last March, traded at 0.045 ringgit apiece as of Monday’s close. - Bloomberg