Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Legal Affairs) Datuk Liew Vui Keong speaks to the media in the lobby of Parliament in Kuala Lumpur July 19, 2018. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon

KUALA LUMPUR, July 19 — The previous Barisan Nasional (BN) government closed all cases relating to Sarawak Governor Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud back in 2013, law minister Datuk Liew Vui Keong said today.

In a written parliamentary reply today, Liew said that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had carried out several investigations against Taib and the findings were then submitted to the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC).

“After going through the details available, the AGC decided that all investigation papers regarding the issue be closed in 2013,” Liew said.

He, however, did not provide details as to what the investigations were centred on, nor details of the cases.

Liew was responding to Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen, who had asked the prime minister to state if the MACC would be prioritising investigations against Taib for alleged corruption and abuse of power reported years ago by foreign media agencies.

Abdul Taib, who was then state BN chairman and Sarawak chief minister for more than two decades, has become the latest target in the call for graft investigations under the new Pakatan Harapan (PH) government.

Last May, Sarawak PKR chief Baru Bian urged Taib to be probed, insisting that Sarawakians wanted to know the outcome of the MACC investigations that were supposedly carried out on Taib.

“It was revealed some years back that the MACC had examined 500 files and opened at least 10 investigation papers on complaints linked to Taib Mahmud but no results had ever been forthcoming,” Baru said in a statement on May 17.

Claiming that corruption in the state was “well-documented and known worldwide,” he urged the authorities to carry out investigations on other Sarawakian political figures who are alleged to be involved in corruption.

Numerous corruption allegations had been made against Taib during his time as the state’s third chief minister from March 26, 1981 to February 28, 2014, but none were ever substantiated.

These allegations include abuse of power, land grabs, receiving kickbacks from the state’s lucrative timber trade and lining the pockets of his family members.

Most recently, it was reported that a Swiss environmental group had failed in its attempt to link a Canadian real estate company to corruption involving Taib.

Bloomberg reported on April 21 that Bruno Manser Fonds had filed a suit in Ontario last year to get information from banks on Sakto Group, which is owned by Taib’s daughter Jamilah and her husband Sean Murray.

The Canadian court was reported to have ruled that there was not enough evidence for the group to support its claims that Taib’s family had funnelled in money to fund the expansion of the company’s RM778 million real estate empire.