Customs officer dies after falling off MACC building

A Customs Department officer who had been questioned over suspected involvement in graft and money-laundering, died today after falling off the third floor of the Kuala Lumpur Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) building in Jalan Cochrane.

Ahmad Sarbani Mohamed, 56, who served as assistant director at the Selangor office of the Royal Malaysian Customs Department, had reportedly been released on bail two days ago.

A total of 62 officers had been arrested in a joint operation in Penang, Johor, Selangor and Pahang by a special task force which comprised the MACC, the Inland Revenue Board, the Customs Department and Bank Negara.

One officer was found to have several million ringgit in his bank account while another had almost RM1 million. Two others had more than RM500,000 each.

The sweeping raid also found gold bars in the house of one officer while another had more than RM600,000 in cash stored in several bags.

In a press conference at the KL MACC headquarters, MACC investigating director Mustafar Ali said the deceased was arrested and detained over the alleged graft and money-laundering case on April 1, 2011 at about 1pm at the North Klang, Klang.

He was detained to assist in investigations, but subsequently released last Saturday, April 2, at 12.30pm.

"He came to the MACC office in Jalan Cochrane at 8.26am riding a motorcycle to meet with an investigative officer to discuss the case against him.

Meanwhile, the customs department's director-general Mohamed Khalid Yusuf is said to be in shock at receiving the news.

“Ya, (Customs) confirms the incident occurred. (Mohamad Khalid) was shocked when he heard the report,” said his special officer Masrul Amri Kamaruddin when contacted.

Masrul Amri said the director-general will be issuing a statement to the press at the Sultan Mahmud Airport in Kuala Terengganu tonight.

Mohamed Khalid is in Kuala Terengganu to attend a meeting believed to be over the investigation by the MACC into his department.

When asked about the incident in Parliment, the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Nazri Aziz, who appeared shocked, said: "It is unfortunate, we will investigate the matter, how it happened.

"However we must continue investigations (on corruption in the Customs department) because it is causing the government to lose a lot of money."