Azam Baki

Tan Sri Dato' Sri Haji Azam bin Baki (عزم بن بقي; born 12 May 1963) is a Malaysian investigation officer who has served as the 6th Chief Commissioner of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) since March 2020.

Azam attracted controversy after it was revealed that he owned an excessive amount of stock while sitting on the top rank of MACC.

Azam was born on 12 May 1963 at Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia.

He obtained Diploma of Engineering (DipEng) in Electrical (Power) from University of Technology Malaysia, Bachelor of Jurisprudence (B.Juris) from University of Malaya and master's degree from Asia e University.

Azam began his career as an Assistant Investigation Officer at the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) in 1984.

The SC informed that under Section 25 of the Central Depository Securities Industry Act 1991 (Sicda), every securities account opened with a central depository must be in the name of the beneficial owner of the shares deposited or in the name of a company authorized by the nominee.

On the same day, Edmund Terence Gomez claimed that the statements of both Azam and Abu Zahar raised more questions than answers and raised 'extremely distressing new concerns' regarding Azam's business interests.

He quickly rose through the ranks from there, becoming Director of Intelligence in 2013, Director of Investigation in 2015, Deputy Chief Commissioner (Operations) in 2016, and Chief Commissioner in 2020.

Lalitha Kunaratnam, an investigative journalist, published two articles titled [https://theinsnews.com/postview/757-business-ties-among-macc-leadership-how-deep-does-it-go-part-1 “Business ties among MACC leadership: How deep does it go?

(Part 1)”] and “Business ties among MACC leadership: How deep does it go (Part 2)” on the Independent News Service news portal.

The article provides details about business link among a group of individuals including Azam Baki, former chief commissioner of MACC Abu Kassim Mohamed, two of Azam's brother, Abu Kassim's son, and all five's alleged associates: Mohd Aswadi Mat Zain and Lim Kok Han.

The article was originally published on 26 October 2021.

She claimed that Azam's brothers, Nasir and Radzuan, became increasingly involved in numerous businesses as Azam rose to the top.

According to the article, Azam was a shareholder in Gets Global Berhad.

He had 1,930,000 shares as of 30 April 2015, and 1,029,500 shares as of 31 March 2016.

In March 2016, he was in possession of 2,156,000 warrants in Excel Force MSC Berhad.

The other individuals mentioned in the article also held the same shares and warrants during the same period as Azam.

The author concluded that Azam Baki's brothers and associates control a conglomerate.

She further added that when top law enforcement officers or their family members are involved in a variety of businesses, a conflict of interest arises, which can lead to abuse of power and corruption.

On 14 December 2021, Sungai Buloh MP Sivarasa Rasiah asked parliament to discuss the allegation that Azam Baki owned shares in two companies listed on the exchange in excess of the amount allowed.

On 27 December 2021, one of the MACC Consultation and Corruption Prevention Panel member, Edmund Terence Gomez has resigned in protest of its inaction against Azam Baki’s stock ownership allegation.

Gomez said that he had written three times to the panel's chairman, Borhan Dollah, requesting that a meeting be held as soon as November to discuss the matter.

Despite the fact that Borhan initially responded immediately and agreed to a meeting, it never took place.

Gomez stated that he had also written to the chairman of the MACC Anti-Corruption Advisory Board (ACAB), Abu Zahar Ujang, on three separate occasions, but had received no response.

On 5 January 2022, MACC held a press conference.

The Anti-Corruption Advisory Board (ACAB) chairman, Abu Zahar Ujang, claimed that they are satisfied with the explanation by Azam Baki regarding the alleged ownership of shares in excessive amounts.

"During a meeting [on 24 November 2021], Azam had explained the situation to [the ACAB members] that his share account was then used by his brother, Nasir Baki to buy related shares in 2015, in which he does not have any interest in the purchase or ownership of the shares. At the same time, the purchase of the shares was made on the open stock market and there was no conflict of interest for the purchase of the shares in 2015. However, he said that all the shares had been transferred back to Nasir in the relevant year. After a lengthy discussion, the ACAB members are of the opinion that Azam has no interest in the shares."

Abu Zahar further added that there is no need to convene a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to look into the allegations levelled against Azam Baki.

However, he will hand over the decision to the Prime Minister, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, if he wants the investigation to continue by setting up the RCI.

Azam Baki stated at the same press conference that he believes he did not commit any offence and thus does not need to respond to the allegations levelled against him.

He also denied that his brother's purchase of shares created a conflict of interest.

When pressed to explain why his brother had to use someone else's name to acquire the shares, Azam stated that it was not an issue.

In fact, Azam challenged the dissatisfied parties to prove that the action was a violation of the law.

Azam also claimed that the allegation that he controlled many companies was a 'total lie' that was purposefully created to cast a negative light on him.

He added that the accusation was portrayed as if he controlled a large conglomerate to tarnish his reputation as the Chief Commissioner and MACC as a whole.

In a statement issued on January 5, 2022, Malaysian think tank, Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas) welcomed the ACAB's decision to respond publicly to the allegations, but they called for additional action to investigate the allegations against Azam.

According to Ideas, ACAB chairman Abu Zahar Ujang's statement did not fully address public concerns about the MACC's integrity.

Ideas urged the ACAB to reveal the process used to clear Azam's name of any wrongdoing, as well as whether Azam met the property declaration criteria based on government circulars requiring civil servants to declare their property.

Ideas stated that if the decision to release Azam was made solely on Azam's explanation in a single meeting without a thorough investigation, then ACAB was not doing its job properly, and it should not happen in an organisation tasked with overseeing the MACC.

On 6 January 2022, the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) said it would speak to Azam Baki after he admitted that his brother had used the name of his trading account to buy shares.