Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said a special committee investigating anti-graft chief Azam Baki’s shareholdings is expected to release its findings soon, Bloomberg said. 

Anwar told parliament on Tuesday that Cabinet would consider establishing a Royal Commission after the three-person panel, made up of senior public servants and led by the attorney general, submits its findings. Lawmakers, including members of the largest party in Anwar’s coalition, have called for a Royal Commission to probe allegations that officials at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) colluded with businessmen to intimidate executives and oust company founders, the news agency said. 

The committee was formed in mid-February after Bloomberg published reports that sparked protests and calls for Azam to step down. The news reports revealed that Azam’s shareholdings in a financial services firm exceeded the limit permitted for public officials, while a second described alleged collusion between MACC officials and businessmen to pressure corporate executives. 

Azam and the MACC have strongly denied the allegations, Bloomberg said.

In an earlier report, Bloomberg described a “playbook” in which complicit businessmen would acquire stakes in target companies shortly before MACC launched an investigation into the firms. The anti-corruption watchdog would then freeze related bank accounts and force executives to be suspended removed from boards until they divested their shares, which were then bought by the commission’s accomplices. 

MACC officers threatened, arrested, or detained executives and, in some cases, suggested settlements that included selling shares at “knockdown” prices in return for probes being stopped, according to the news agency. 

The February 11 report also described a June 2023 incident involving Tai Boon Wee, founder of rubber-products maker GIIB Holdings Bhd., who said a new shareholder, Andy Lim, demanded board seats at a restaurant meeting and appeared to display a pistol. Lim has characterized the encounter as an introductory meeting, while accounts in documents and interviews referred to a small group of businessmen sometimes dubbed the “corporate mafia.” 

The report said questions about MACC’s accountability “go all the way to the top,” noting critics argue the agency lacks autonomy because its chief commissioner is chosen on the advice of the prime minister, and that Azam has remained in office through multiple administrations. 

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