The Malaysia Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC) questioned ex-Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on Thursday March 9 after allegations of misappropriation of public funds intended to counter the Covid pandemic.
The Southeast Asian country is already grappling with several other major corruption cases, including the 1MDB sovereign wealth fund scandal that landed former prime minister Najib Razak in jail.
Muhyiddin Yassin led the Malaysian government for 17 months in 2020 and 2021, at the height of the pandemic in Malaysia.
He is now at the head of an opposition coalition.
frozen bank accounts
The agency did not comment on the questioning but it comes a few weeks after the launch of an investigation into an alleged embezzlement linked to the pandemic by the Bersatu, the party of the ex-prime minister. .
Muhyiddin Yassin, 75, said on Facebook on Wednesday March 8 that he had been summoned by the agency without specifying why.
He went to the agency's premises in Putrajaya, the Malaysian administrative capital, on Thursday and made no comment, according to AFP journalists on the spot.
The anti-corruption agency froze the Bersatu party's bank accounts last month and two party officials have been indicted for corruption in connection with an economic stimulus package launched by Muhyiddin's government.
The former prime minister, who chairs the opposition party, denied any wrongdoing.
Supporters say the probe is aimed at discrediting the party ahead of national elections in July.
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Current Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has claimed that billions of dollars in funds meant to recover the economy after the pandemic were spent without proper procedure under the previous government.
Muhyiddin Yassi had seen his career progress under the government of Najib Razak, who was sentenced to twelve years in prison for corruption in the 1MDB affair, the embezzlement of billions of dollars from a sovereign wealth fund.
But he then criticized the government for this affair and was dismissed.
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