Malaysia’s anti-graft busters have opened an investigation paper into Court of Appeal Judge Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali over the contents of his bank account.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Tan Sri Azam Baki confirmed the matter with The Star, saying that the investigation paper was opened after reports were lodged on money in the account alleged to be of unknown provenance.
“Yes, we have started our investigation. The procedure is to investigate when a report has been officially lodged.
“We opened an investigation paper because there were reports lodged, not because claims were made on portals or social media,” he was quoted as saying to The Star.
However, Azam declined to comment whether his officers would be looking for documents or calling in individuals for questioning.
“The investigation is still in the early stages. My officers will decide during the course of investigation,” he said.
Nazlan was the judge who heard former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s SRC trial at the High Court, which started in April 2019, and delivered the guilty verdict in July 2020 against Najib. Nazlan was elevated to the position of a Court of Appeal judge in February 2022.
Following the High Court’s July 2020 decision, which found Najib guilty over the misappropriation of SRC funds totalling RM42 million, the Court of Appeal’s three-judge panel on December 8, 2021 also unanimously upheld Najib’s conviction, fine and jail sentencing.
Two days ago, Nazlan lodged a police report over false allegations made against him in a blog post.
The April 20 article by blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin on the blog Malaysia Today carried the title “Judge Mohd Nazlan being investigated for unexplained RM1 million in his bank account”.
The article alleged that the money came in during the time Nazlan was the group general counsel and company secretary of Maybank.
The judiciary via the Office of the Chief Registrar of the Federal Court said Nazlan deemed the article as malicious in intent and filled with baseless claims.
Previously, an allegation was circulated claiming that Nazlan was a relative of former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Mahathir’s daughter Marina said the family would be flattered if a learned judge was their relative but said Nazlan was not.
Najib’s legal team has also tried to discredit Nazlan by claiming that he had a conflict of interest in the 1MDB case.
Earlier report:
Apr 22, Judge Nazlan lodges police report against Malaysia Today