Tei names Azam Baki as officer who warned him not to expose Sabah mining scandal

The whistleblower who revealed shocking videos at the centre of the Sabah mining licences scandal today named Azam Baki as the official who threatened him, just a day after the head of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) ended a controversial six-year tenure.

Albert Tei arrived at the MACC headquarters today, saying he has evidence in the form of text messages and recordings to support his claim.

He said he decided to name Azam now because he had previously feared retribution from Azam while the latter was leading the anti-graft agency.

"At that time, I did not dare to report the matter to the police or anyone else as I was afraid of retaliation from him, because he held the position of chief commissioner of MACC and had the power and influence to persecute me," said Tei.

Tei said that on Jan 20, 2025, a lawyer who represented him at that time met Azam at the MACC headquarters.

"Azam requested a letter of assurance from my lawyer, stating that if the Sabah politicians returned my money, I would not raise this issue again. He also told the lawyer not to issue any statement, and that MACC would issue a statement saying the investigation papers had been referred to the prosecution, and that I should not issue any statement," he said.

Tei accused Azam of colluding with Sabah politicians to cover up the allegations against them.

"The former MACC chief commissioner is a traitor to the country."

Contacted by MalaysiaNow, Azam dismissed the latest allegation against him, adding that he had never met Tei.

"If he dares, lodge a police report rather than barking like a bitch," he said in a short text message.

Tei said he has lodged a report today with Putrajaya police and will provide documents and evidence to support his claim.

Warned by 'extremely high-level officer'

In November 2024, Tei released more than a dozen secretly recorded video clips of Sabah ruling politicians admitting to him that they received money in exchange for helping to issue mineral mining licences.

The videos also implicated Sabah Chief Minister Hajiji Noor and senior Sabah ministers.

Late last year, Tei revealed that the idea to record the videos came from Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin, the former political secretary to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who resigned following an explosive corruption scandal.

Tei also revealed that he had spent almost RM630,000 on Shamsul in the hope that the latter would help him negotiate with Hajiji to recover the money he paid to the Sabah politicians.

Last year, Tei's lawyer Mahajoth Singh said his client first approached MACC with video evidence of the scandal in October 2024, but was warned by a very senior officer against exposing them.

"He was explicitly warned not to proceed with lodging a report. My client’s instruction is that this warning came from an individual whose position is at an extremely high level," Mahajoth had said in July 2025.

Following this, deputy law minister M Kulasegaran urged Tei to lodge a police report and name the MACC officer who threatened him.

After the videos were anonymously released in November 2024, anti-graft activists urged Azam and MACC to launch an investigation, while calling for the person who exposed the scandal to be given protection as a whistleblower due to concerns for his safety.

Tei's lawyer also wrote to Anwar urging that Tei be protected under the Whistleblower Protection Act, which the prime minister rejected.

'I know your client is Albert Tei'

Tei claimed today that following the release of the videos in November 2024, Azam telephoned his lawyer at that time and demanded that his client back down from pursuing the matter.

"On Nov 10, 2024, Azam Baki called my lawyer at that time and said, 'I know your client is Albert Tei. If he comes to expose this corruption scandal and makes an official complaint to MACC, I (Tei) will be the first person to be arrested.' This was Azam Baki's statement," said Tei.

According to Tei, Azam also recommended that Tei take a two-week holiday abroad and retract his videos by stating that the whole matter had been a "misunderstanding".