KUALA LUMPUR (July 3): The National Anti-Financial Crime Centre said Tan Sri Azam Baki was appointed for a three-year term in 2024 and will remain on its advisory board until Sept 19, 2027.
Azam, the former chief commissioner of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), was appointed as an adviser with the consent of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. The centre, also known as NFCC, operates under the Prime Minister’s Department.
His membership remains in force until the end of the term unless it is ended earlier by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the NFCC said in a statement on Friday.
The statement comes after opposition leader Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin questioned Azam’s presence at an NFCC advisory board meeting on June 30. He ended a six-year run as MACC chief commissioner on May 12 with unexplained controversies that remained unresolved.
A government panel investigating his outsized stock holdings has yet to release its report to date, and authorities are also looking into allegations that MACC officials colluded with a group of businessmen dubbed ‘corporate mafia’ to intimidate executives and take over their companies. He has denied both allegations.
Azam was appointed in his individual capacity to NFCC and was not tied to his former position as MACC chief commissioner, according to the statement issued by its director general Datuk Seri Shamshun Baharin Mohd Jamil.
Azam's attendance at the June 30 meeting was in accordance with the National Anti-Financial Crime Centre Act 2019, or Act 822, as he remains a valid advisory board member, Shamshun Baharin noted.