KINGPINS...Musa
did have dealings with shady underworld kingpins, says Ramli.
KUALA LUMPUR: Retired Federal
Police Chief Tan Sri Musa Hassan is lying outright in denying that he had
contacts with shady underworld kingpins Goh Cheng Poh, or Tengku Goh, and BK
Tan when he was Inspector-General of Police.
So says former Commercial
Crime Investigations Department Director Datuk Ramli Yusuff, who added that
evidence gathered by his CCID team, an unchallenged statutory declaration and
court testimonies prove otherwise.
Furthermore, in Ramli's
abuse of power trial in the sessions court in Kota Kinabalu, Musa had been
found to be an unreliable witness when testifying against Ramli.
"Musa was the last
witness to testify in my abuse of power trial. He was found by sessions judge
Supang Lian to have contradicted the testimonies of seven police officers under
him. Hence, the judge dismissed Musa's testimony as unreliable," Ramli
added.
"Here, we have a junior
judge passing such a remark on the then serving IGP. This is a disgrace to the
police force," he told Malaysiakini in an interview.
The judge made the remark in
2009 when acquitting and discharging Ramli without calling for his defence.
Ramli, who has sinwece been
cleared on all five charges he insists were trumped-up, spoke to Malaysiakini
when asked to comment on Musa's interview with the news portal in May this
year, in which the former police chief denied knowing underworld kingpins
Tengku Goh and BK Tan.
ex-igp musa hassan interview
with malaysiakini 2ex-igp musa hassan interview with malaysiakini 2Tengku Goh
is reportedly an underworld boss who enjoyed Musa's backing when Musa (right)
was Johor police chief.
Musa was said to have
eliminated all loan sharks, money-laundering syndicates, gaming and drug
syndicates and crime lords in Johor, but allowed Tengku Goh to continue
operating - until the Bukit Aman CCID found out about Goh's activities.
As a result of this
discovery, called the 'Copgate affair', Ramli and his men were instead hit with
trumped-up charges by attorney-general Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, who was
accused of colluding with the then police chief.
Ramli was eventually cleared
without his defence being called and appeals by the AG against the decision
were thrown out by the upper courts.
Meanwhile, Ramli's men who
were similarly charged were also acquitted without their defence called. The
prosecution however did not appeal their acquittals.
Some of these police
officers, who were driving taxis to make ends meet following their suspension
from the force, have now been reinstated and promoted.
What the CCID team
uncovered...
In the Malaysiakini
interview, Ramli also denied that his CCID team encroached into Criminal
Investigation Department's (CID's) jurisdiction as alleged by Musa.
Acting on information
received, Ramli said he and his team recorded intelligence statements from
underworld whistleblowers, who detailed the illegal activities committed by
Tengku Goh and his involvement with Musa.
"The police submitted
this information to Deputy Internal Security Minister Datuk Johari Baharom, who
directed us to continue with the investigations as the government wanted to
curb all illegal activities such as money laundering, illegal gaming, loan
shark or illegal money-lending activities, drug smuggling and gangsterism.
"When we have
information, we investigate. How can we stop investigations (when we come
across any illegal activity involving syndicate members in the course of our
investigation)?
"We are police officers
and we are supposed to investigate, regardless of whether the matter comes
under the purview of the CID, Anti-Narcotics Department, Internal Security
Department or any other department in the police force.
"Our powers are the
same, as enshrined under Section 3 of the Police Act 1967 and other relevant
laws," Ramli added.
johari baharumIn the bizarre
Copgate affair, Johari (right) was himself accused of having links with the mob
for releasing three gangsters held under the recently repealed Emergency
Ordinance, which allowed for detention without trial.
It is believed that Johori
ordered Ramli to probe Musa in a tit-for-tat battle between the deputy minister
and the IGP.
Both men - the politician
and the police chief - were subsequently cleared of mob involvement by the
anti-corruption agency after the scandal broke in 2007.
Ramli said he later got to
know that the current deputy IGP, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, who was then deputy
director of CID, had investigated Tengku Goh a few months before his men were
asked to being their investigation.
However, Ramli said, he was
informed that Khalid's investigation was stopped by Musa, who claimed that the
allegation against Goh was baseless and that some police officers were trying
to fix him up.
"Apparently Musa
interfered, resulting in the transfer of some of the officers involved in the
investigation. Khalid himself was removed as deputy director of the CID and
appointed Selangor police chief," he said.
money for freedom the
allegations against johari baharum minusmoney for freedom the allegations
against johari baharum minus"How can Musa have the guts to say he does not
know Tengku Goh when the fact is that Tengku Goh named him in his affidavit to
secure his release as a restricted resident under the Restricted Residence
Act?"
Furthermore, Ramli said, he
and his team received information that when Musa was Johor police chief, he
acted against all crime syndicate members, except Tengku Goh.
"You can ask any police
officer in Johor... they will know who Tengku Goh is."
Ramli accused Musa of
blatantly lying when saying that he did not know Tengku Goh.
"He was not telling the
truth. How could Musa claim that this particular person was fixed when we
recorded statements from sources (whistleblowers) saying otherwise? There is
also evidence provided in court to prove this," he said.
Musa's
son worked with BK Tan
Ramli also questioned how
Musa could deny not knowing BK Tan, another shady character who had worked
behind the scenes with key personnel in the police force on the transfer of
certain police officers.
He cited the sworn statement
of a police officer, ASP Mior Fahmi Ahmad, which said he saw Musa's son working
with BK Tan at his office in Amcorp Mall, Petaling Jaya, at which former police
commissioner Othman Talib was also present.
Mior Fahmi, who was
transferred from Sabah, was brought to Amcorp Mall by another senior police
officer to meet BK Tan. He was later sent to Johor to take charge of the D7
unit, which handles gaming, vice and secret societies.
"He (Mior Fahmi) was
given a house to stay, free of charge, by the syndicate.
"We also have a statutory
declaration from Musa's former aide-de-camp ASP Nor Azizul Rahim, who disclosed
that they discussed the transfer of D7 officers at Musa's home, together with
BK Tan and ex-police commissioner Othman.
"Musa was given a name
list of officers by BK Tan to be issued with transfer orders. These were
officers who were on BK Tan's payroll.
"Moreover, Musa was
found to be an unreliable witness by the sessions court in the case against me,
and this finding was also affirmed by the High Court in Kota Kinabalu and by
the Court of Appeal. So, who are we to believe?" Ramli said.
He said the allegations made
against Musa were damaging and based on the statutory declarations as well,
Musa's claim that he does not know BK Tan and Tengku Goh made no sense at all.
Musa's former aide, ASP Noor
Azizul Rahim, who is now attached to a federal ministry, was contacted by
Malaysiakini to verify the contents of his SD.
However, he declined to make
any further comment on the issue, saying that he would nevertheless be willing
to testify before a tribunal, should one be set up.
Home Minister Datuk Seri
Hishammuddin Hussein has in March this year rejected the need for an inquiry on
the scandal. (Malaysiakini)
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