This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on October 13, 2015.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is in the midst of investigating the most powerful person in the country, said outgoing deputy chief commissioner (management and professionalism) Datuk Seri Zakaria Jaffar.

He said this person is being investigated in relation to Finance Ministry-owned firm SRC International Sdn Bhd and a sum of money worth RM2.6 billion.

“We are faced with an investigation that involves the most powerful person in the country,” he said in his retirement speech at the MACC Academy here yesterday.

“For as long as I have served in [the] ACA (Anti-Corruption Agency) and MACC, it never crossed my mind that the commission would face a challenge this big as what we are seeing today.

“Everyone is in the know that we are carrying out the biggest investigation since 1967. The officers involved need full support to work in this very difficult field,” said Zakaria, who retired yesterday.

SRC International was a subsidiary of state investment firm 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and was later placed under the Finance Ministry.

It drew controversy for taking a RM4 billion loan from government pension fund Retirement Fund Inc.

The RM2.6 billion fund was reported by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) to have been transferred to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal accounts. The MACC has already confirmed the fund as a political donation from an unknown Middle Eastern donor.

It is not known what the money has been used for, although Najib said he was holding the fund in trust on behalf of Umno.

In his farewell speech, Zakaria also touched on “attacks” against the agency’s officers over suspicion that the MACC was responsible for leaking information on the probe into 1MDB.

This was after WSJ, citing information from government investigators, reported in July that RM2.6 billion had been transferred to Najib’s personal bank accounts.

The special operations unit of the MACC was raided, with several of its investigators detained for questioning. Two MACC officers were also transferred but reinstated after an outcry.

“Such a thing should never have happened.”

He urged the agency’s investigators involved in the probe into SRC International and into the RM2.6 billion not to waver.

“I am confident that the officers involved in these cases will continue to work without fear. Investigations will continue even if [the] suspects have absconded.” — The Malaysian Insider