Close friends and schoolmates of Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali have taken to social media to defend the Court of Appeal judge who is under probe over allegations of unexplained money in his account.
On Facebook, Zaim Al-Amin who was Nazlan’s schoolmate at the Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK) described him as a “bright guy whose integrity is beyond question”.
Both Zaim and Nazlan were students at the prestigious MCKK in 1984.
“We, as his batchmates, respect him very much and think very highly of him. We would even ‘cakap berlapik’ (speak in a soft and respectful manner) to him even when joking,” Zaim said.
“This is the least I can say when he is attacked left, right, front and back and as a friend I owe this to him.”
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has opened investigations against Nazlan over allegations of unexplained money in his account.
The anti-corruption watchdog’s chief commissioner Azam Baki said investigations are being carried out following several reports against the judge.
“We opened an investigation paper because there were reports lodged, not because claims were made in portals or social media,” Azam was quoted as saying.
Nazlan is the judge who had convicted former prime minister Najib Razak over the misappropriation of RM42 million of SRC International Sdn Bhd funds.
The blog Malaysia Today had on Wednesday posted claims that Nazlan was being investigated for an unexplained RM1 million in his account.
Before becoming a judge, Nazlan had been general counsel and secretary for Maybank.
Shahar Effendi Azizi, meanwhile, said although he does not know Nazlan personally, he has heard many good stories about Nazlan from his batchmates.
“The learned judge entered my alma mater, MCKK in 1980 as a first-former. Although I had already left school and was doing my A-Levels in Blackpool, England, then, however some of my batchmates aka Serpents (Malay College Old Boys ‘78), including Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah (aka Sarp, who is now foreign minister), were still there in Upper Six when Sarp was the head boy.”
“Anyway, he was the High Court judge who sentenced ‘you know who’ in the SRC case.
“Although I do not know him personally, this is the least I can do for a person who is held in high esteem and integrity by his fellow peers, which is to give him moral support (and prayers) during this challenging moment,” said Shahar. – TMI