Nothing linking Nik Nazmi to alleged bribe in elephants’ transfer, says MACC

PETALING JAYA: No evidence has been found linking Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad to an alleged RM53 million bribe related to the transfer of three elephants to Japan’s Tennoji Zoo, says Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Abd Halim Aman.

In a press conference at the MACC headquarters today, Halim said investigations uncovered no money trail linking the former natural resources and environmental sustainability minister to the alleged payments or any company connected to the elephants’ transfer.

He said checks of the cash transaction reports (CTR) and suspicious transaction reports (STR) regarding the Malaysian company involved, as well as its owner, found no suspicious transactions.

Halim added, however, that CTR and STR checks involving four suspects in the case identified several transactions that still required further financial analysis.

“These transactions still require clarification as to the money trail, bank accounts involved and so on,” Sinar Harian reported him as saying.

He said investigators had been given a month to complete the probe, which is in its final stages, including obtaining explanations from banking institutions of the identified transactions.

Halim said 23 statements had been recorded from 19 witnesses and the four suspects.

He also said early investigations found that the transfer of the three elephants from Taiping Zoo to Tennoji Zoo was part of a memorandum of understanding between the two zoos.

Halim said investigations found that the cost of their transfer was borne by Tennoji Zoo, not the Malaysian government.

“Tennoji Zoo paid US$1.48 million, or around RM6.39 million, to the appointed company to manage the transfer process,” he said.

Halim also said the elephants’ temporary placement at the Kuala Gandah national elephant conservation centre before their transfer to Japan was for crate training in preparation for the flight, and was not out of the ordinary.

On June 22, MACC said it had opened an investigation paper on the transfer of elephants Dara, Amoi, and Kelat from Taiping Zoo to Tennoji Zoo in Osaka, Japan.

It said the probe was focussed on the national resources and environmental sustainability ministry, the wildlife and national parks department, and the agents involved in the elephants’ transfer.

MACC said the probe followed calls by NGO Hak Asasi Hidupan Liar Malaysia on June 18 for an investigation after the group alleged that several payments had not reached the government as intended and linked several people to transactions worth about RM53 million.