Nine investigation papers related to the 2012 Auditor-General’s Report have been returned by the Attorney-General’s Office to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) with a recommendation that they be closed, attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail said yesterday.  

He said the papers were found to have insufficient evidence for a criminal charge against any officer or individual named, under any law applicable.    

“In some cases, it was observed that the misconduct or mismanagement of expenses raised in the Audit Report 2012 and investigated by the MACC was a result of negligence by the officials, weakness in the administrative and financial procedures and governance of the ministries, departments or agencies concerned.

“Therefore, improvements in procedures and governance, and recommended disciplinary actions against the officers involved have been proposed in some cases,” he said in a statement in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.  

Abdul Gani said seven other papers were returned to the MACC with instructions to obtain additional information and supporting documents.  

He said the additional information was needed before a final recommendation could be made, adding that several charges from three of the investigation papers referred to were also being considered by the department.   

Abdul Gani said MACC had submitted the papers in phases from Nov 14, 2013 and with the latest batch received on Feb 14 this year.  

“The AG’s Office examined the investigation papers as soon as they were received. We also had regular discussions with MACC and its investigating officers,” he said.  

Among the papers not received was the ‘Dhua’fat’ housing assistance programme case with the selection of recipients without application forms and whose income exceeded the poverty line, he added.  

The other was the case involving a RM14,385,332 tender for designing, building and certifying a training steel hull by Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, which did not follow the required specifications, he said.   

- Bernama