Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Ramli Yusuff today confirmed that he was the police officer being investigated for amassing RM27 million in undeclared assets.
“Although the name of the officer was not disclosed, it is public knowledge that I was the officer referred to in these widely sensationalised news,” said Ramli in an explosive press statement today.
The media had earlier reported that an unnamed senior officer was being probed by the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) for abuse of power and failure to declare assets.
The news reports also claimed that the officer had failed to declare his position as a director in a company and that he accumulated RM27 million worth of assets illegally.
It is understood that Ramli had been ordered to declare his assets, which he did on Sept 19 to the ACA deputy public prosecutor.
Ramli’s announcement was made at a hastily organised press conference today at the CCID headquarters in Kuala Lumpur’s Bukit Perdana, where his office is located.
In a three-page statement, Ramli - a top ranking police officer - also made a number of allegations including that the police force had failed to stand by him and his officers during the ACA investigation.
“The officers of the CCID have been mistreated by the ACA and are yet to be protected by their own force,” he claimed.
Johari ordered ‘kingpin’s’ arrest
In his statement, Ramli described at length how his department nabbed an alleged underworld kingpin in Johor on the directive of Deputy Internal Security Minister Johari Baharom in March [see full statement].
He said Johari’s order came after a joint committee and a special task force were established last year at the cabinet level and the police to combat illegal money-lending and gambling activities.
“The investigations by CCID led to the eventual detention and banishment of the said Goh Cheng Poh @ Tengku to Jeli, Kelantan,” he said.
Goh’s detention and banishment was made in early August around the same time allegations emerged that Ramli was being probed by ACA for undeclared assets.
Ramli stressed that Goh’s detention was made under the orders of Johari based on intelligence gathered by the CCID.
“The merits of his banishment are a matter which is within the subjective purview and prerogative of the deputy internal security minister and, consequently, I am not at liberty to comment,” he added.
No help from AG’s Chambers
Subsequently, it was reported that ACA and Criminal Investigation Department (CID) - a separate section in the police force - had investigated and cleared Goh.
“This certainly did not include the subject matter of CCID’s investigations into Goh’s affairs as directed by the deputy internal security minister,” Ramli said.
Following this, Goh had applied to the High Court to set aside Johari’s banishment order.
In what Ramli described as an “unprecedented stance”, the Internal Security Ministry’s legal advisor - who is an officer of the Attorney-General’s Chambers - had declined to help the CCID to fight the case.
Instead, the legal advisor had ordered Ramli and his officers to prepare by themselves affidavits of the events surrounding their preparation of investigative papers on Goh.
“I was under advice at the time that the AG was under a duty to advise and assist us in the preparation of the said affidavits under Article 145 of the Federal Constitution and the Government Proceedings Act, 1956," he said.
Instead, Ramli said he had to seek legal advice from a private law firm to draft the affidavits.
ACA blew our cover
Following this, Ramli said ACA officer Sok One Esen had filed an affidavit in the proceedings brought by Goh, which confirmed that the ACA was investigating his department’s officers for allegedly abusing their powers.
Ramli said that Sok One was also present at the Hari Raya arrest of Rosli Dahlan, the lawyer who had helped the CCID to prepare its affidavits. Rosli was subsequently charged in court for failure to declare his assets after he was ordered to do so by ACA.
“Within the week, several officers of the CCID were arrested and charged in court for allegedly falsifying evidence concerning the banishment of Goh.
“In the charge sheets, the names of the confidential informants have been disclosed,” he lamented.
Ramli then dropped a bombshell regarding ACA’s dealings with the identities of police informants.
“The identities of the informants were obtained through the circumvention of the Inspector-General’s Standing Orders.
“Given these events, there exists a clear and present danger as to the intelligence gathering ability of the police force and its ability to protect its informants.”
Ramli ended his statement that he was going to Saudi Arabia to perform his ‘umrah’ (minor haj) on Saturday and he would leave the matter to be dealt with by the Internal Security Ministry.
“These are disturbing events and will undeniably have a deep impact, not only on the CCID but the police force as a whole."
