Thesun 2009-03-13 Page01 Azalina Meets Pm Over Probe

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No. 4715 PP 2644/12/2009 (023092)

Friday March 13, 2009

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Probe into land frauds in Selangor by Terence Fernandez [email protected]

PETALING JAYA: The Selangor government is hauling up officers from the land office and Land and Mines Department to investigate fraudulent transfers of land. Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, the political secretary to the Selangor mentri besar, said: “We will also be asking the authorities to investigate since there are clearly elements of criminality involved.” He said that the state government was adamant to fix all issues of fraudulent land transfer from previous administrations. Imagine this scenario. You are a 70-year-old man who owned a 7ha plot for almost three decades only to find out that its ownership has changed without your knowledge. The Land Office tells you that you had consented to the transfer although you had never stepped into the office except to pay the quit rent. The officers produce a photocopy of your identity card which bears your details but the photograph is of a different person – and a different gender at that! Searches with the Companies Commission of Malaysia reveal that you are a director of the company that now owns the land, yet you have never set up a company or been appointed a director! This fate that befell Lye Piang Yin just goes to show how far one would go to steal land – a major problem in Selangor. The plot in Hulu Langat which belongs to him and his younger brother Lai Kim was the subject of a fraudulent transfer and the hidden hands of several government agencies have surfaced. However, there is a happy ending for the brothers. On March 3, the High Court in Shah Alam issued an order to stop Propaxis Trading Sdn from claiming ownership of the land. Piang Yin and Lai Kim had filed the action in 2006 against Propaxis, the State Land Registrar, director of the State Land and Mines Department and the state government. According to court documents, the brothers who had inherited the land from their father had been paying quit rent from 1980 to 2006 when they learnt that the land was in the midst of being transferred. This was discovered by chance as lawyers for the owners of an adjoining plot, ABM Holdings Sdn Bhd, had done a search and discovered that land too had been transferred to the same person. “They alerted us that our land could also be affected,” said Piang Yin. In spite of Piang Yin taking a private caveat on the land and lodging three police reports, the caveat was cancelled and the land transferred. When met at his land located about 1.5km from the General Operations Force headquarters in Taman Cuepacs last Tuesday, Piang Yin, a bachelor, said he got worried when he saw surveyors viewing his land – which now resembles a hilly secondary jungle – but there have since been no further activity. The former RTM technician said his case should prompt other landowners to constantly check on the status of their property. “It just shows how easy it is for unscrupulous people to forge documents to steal what rightfully belongs to you,” he said.

» How the Lyes lost their land – Page 2

Azalina meets PM over probe by Terence Fernandez [email protected]

UTRAJAYA: Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said (pic) met with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi yesterday afternoon over investigations by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) into money politics and her ministry’s activities. Azalina, who had yet to be questioned by MACC, arrived at Abdullah’s official residence, Seri Perdana, about 5pm accompanied by her father Datuk Othman Said. She left at 8.30pm and according to sources the prime minister advised her to be patient and to let the law take its course and that she has nothing to fear if she did not do anything wrong. On another matter, it is also understood Abdullah is concerned over the public’s perception of the newly formed MACC. This is because, according

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to sources, of the statements that had been made by MACC officials, especially MACC commissioner Datuk Seri Ahmad Said Hamdan, which in the eye of the public portray the MACC as being partisan. “The prime minister does not want all the hard work in revamping the Anti-Corruption Agency to go down the drain because of overzealous officials who said the wrong things,” said a source. Meanwhile, sources in Umno said the Penggerang MP was being pressured to withdraw from defending her Umno Supreme Council seat as it was quite certain that investigations may not be completed in time for the party general assembly and elections at the end of this month. “However, she is quite adamant about contesting,” said a source. Earlier, Ahmad Said said no more senior officials from the Tourism Ministry would be hauled up for questioning. His statement came just three days

after the MACC had issued a statement saying that it would not issue statements or comments on ongoing investigations. He urged the media and public not to believe in and spread rumours in connection with the case as this could jeopardise the investigation, reports Bernama. Last week, two ministry officers, including Azalina’s political secretary, were reportedly detained and had their statements taken before they were released. During the arrest, MAAC officers found RM70,000 in the political secretary’s car and the money was believed to be meant for Federal Territory Umno delegates to the party’s coming general assembly and elections. Asked on MAAC’s three-hour visit to the ministry’s office at Menara Dato Onn at the PWTC on Wednesday when some senior officials were questioned, Ahmad Said said it was a normal procedure in an investigation. He said all those questioned cooperated and provided the

documents requested by MACC. Azalina’s office had in a statement on Wednesday evening said it would give its fullest cooperation to the MACC on this matter. It also said they have the fullest confidence in the MACC and are confident that they will be cleared by the investigation (theSun says: Get it over and done with – page 14). Yesterday, Azalina said she had not been called by the MACC to give her statement and “I’m not sure whether I will be called”. Approached after attending a meeting at her office, she appeared calm when answering questions from reporters. “I believe a person is innocent until proven guilty,” she said, adding she only knew of Wednesday’s raid on her office from her officers and news reports.

BERNAMAPIX

Sekinchan’s SPM aces ... CLASSMATES, best friends and also best students Lim Shu Yong (left) and Tan Chin Huat proudly pose with their Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia result slips. The students of SMK Yoke Kuan, Sekinchan, were the toast of the town yesterday, scoring 16 A1s. Two other students with a similar score are Akira Wong Meng Chun of SMK Tung Hua, Sibu, and Goh Fui Phing of SMK Riam Road, Miri. The 2008 SPM results announced yesterday saw 6,277 students scoring straight As in all subjects compared with 5,060 in 2007.