MACC's Azam back in the spotlight over millions of undeclared shares in listed company

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Azam Baki owns shares worth hundreds of thousands of ringgit in a Bursa Malaysia-listed company, breaching a government circular that bars public servants from purchasing shares exceeding RM100,000 in value, Bloomberg reports in a disclosure reminiscent of a similar revelation that sparked protests for him to step down four years ago.

The report cites corporate filings showing Azam, whose tenure as the top anti-graft officer was extended three times by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, held 17.7 million shares of Velocity Capital Partner Bhd as of Feb 3 last year, with a current value of almost RM800,000.

Besides breaching the maximum shareholding amount allowed for a public servant by a 2024 government circular, Azam has also possibly run foul of a requirement to declare assets at least once every five years, the same offence for which he has opened investigations against others.

According to Bloomberg, he has not publicly declared the assets. The report added that Azam's office has not responded to a request for comment.

The revelation comes as Azam appears to be stepping up publicity over a series of investigations by MACC, and has vowed to pursue wealthy and influential individuals despite facing calls to step down.

"There are also people who tell me to step down, but the question is — do we ourselves want to give up? I have never given up," he said in an interview last month.

Azam has earned praise from Anwar, who described him as "courageous" in the so-called war against corruption.

The 62-year-old has been the most controversial MACC chief to date, and has been accused of targeting Anwar's political enemies while sparing those close to the current government.

In 2022, Azam was embroiled in a controversy over his ownership of shares in publicly listed companies, which he said were purchased by his brother using his trading account.

Two years later, he was at the centre of a Bloomberg report in September 2024 that, among other things, quoted sources as saying that Anwar had instructed Azam not to investigate Farhash Wafa Salvador, the former PKR leader turned multi-millionaire, over the purchase of shares in a company linked to the development of a new billion-ringgit immigration system.

The report quoted the same source as saying that Azam was instructed to pursue Anwar's enemies, namely Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the late Daim Zainuddin.

A subsequent police report filed by Daim's widow, Na'imah Khalid, to investigate Anwar for abuse of power, was declared "no further action".

Last year, Azam sparked outrage after his sudden announcement that Farhash had been cleared of any wrongdoing in connection with approval to explore minerals in a massive forest reserve in Sabah.

He was also criticised for using the word "tohmahan", a Malay term denoting a baseless allegation, when referring to allegations involving Farhash.