<figure id="attachment_3039797" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3039797" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3039797 size-full" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/e9392f04-2_puad_zarkashi_mkt_umno_moganraj_fmt_21042025-copy-13.webp" alt="Puad Zarkashi" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3039797" class="wp-caption-text">Umno Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi asked if the MACC chief&#8217;s reported shareholding is allowed under the regulations for civil servants.</figcaption></figure>
PETALING JAYA: An Umno leader has urged the government and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Azam Baki to respond to a report that the latter holds 17.7 million shares in a financial services company.
Umno Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi said Putrajaya and the MACC chief commissioner must respond to the report by Bloomberg without delay.
&#8220;Is this true? Is this allowed under the regulations for civil servants? This is not the first time that Azam has been implicated in a shareholding controversy.
&#8220;I hope this is brought up in Parliament. This is an issue of public interest, they must not sweep this under the carpet,&#8221; he said in a statement.
Bloomberg reported that Azam&#8217;s shareholding was disclosed in Velocity Capital Bhd’s annual return lodged on Feb 3 last year, and that his name still appeared on the company&#8217;s register of shareholders at the Companies Commission of Malaysia.
Based on the company’s share price at Monday’s close, the stake would be worth about RM800,000.
A 2024 government circular on the conduct of public officials states that civil servants may hold shares in Malaysian-incorporated companies only if the holdings do not exceed 5% of paid-up capital or RM100,000 in value, whichever is lower.
Public officers are also required to declare their assets on a periodic basis.
In late 2021, Azam was the subject of controversy after allegations of his extensive ownership of corporate stock surfaced, leading to calls for his resignation.
At the time, MACC said the trades were carried out by his brother using his trading account. The Securities Commission later said it found no conclusive evidence that securities laws had been breached.
MACC’s Anti-Corruption Advisory Board also cleared Azam of wrongdoing, although not before economist Edmund Terence Gomez resigned from the panel in protest of its alleged failure to discuss reports implicating top officials.
Meanwhile, PKR&#8217;s Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Karim said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim should order Azam to go on leave, or terminate the MACC chief&#8217;s contract in light of the shareholding report.
&#8220;There is no other option if Anwar is sincere about combating corruption and the abuse of power to its core,&#8221; Hassan said, according to Malaysiakini.
Anwar has extended Azam’s contract three times beyond the mandatory retirement age for civil servants. His current contract is set to expire in May, barring further extensions.

MatchPoint Times

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