Musa Aman claims he was cleared of the charges years ago

KUALA LUMPIUR (Nov 6): Former Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman has claimed that he was cleared of the the 35 charges against him "10 to 14 years ago".

Speaking to reporters this afternoon after he was charged by the MACC with 35 charges for receiving US$63,293,924.88 million in bribes in exchange for logging contracts, Musa said: "God willing, I will fight these cases to clear my name. I don't know why... these cases have been cleared before, about 10 to 14 years ago."

The alleged offences took place in Hong Kong and Singapore, through proxies, between 2004 and 2008.

All charges were made under Section 11(a) of the Anti-Corruption Act 1997, which pertains to offences in giving or accepting gratification by an agent.

In the 35 charges, the name Chia Tien Foh appears 16 times. Chia, better known as Michael Chia, is a known Musa associate, Malaysiakini reported.

"Why (is it an issue) again? It was cleared by the Minister in charge at the time, in Parliament, (by) Nazri Abdul Aziz... there is no case against me," he told Malaysiakini.

Musa declined to say if the case is politically motivated.

"(But) let me tell you, I will clear my name, with my lawyers. I'm going to fight this case," he said.

In 2012, Nazri who was the de facto Law Minister at that time told Parliament there was no graft in Sabah timber tycoon Michael Chia's purported RM40 million donation to Sabah Umno.

In 2008, Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) had seized S$16 million from Michael Chia who was trying to leave the city with the cash.

It was reported that the ICAC launched a joint probe with its counterpart in Malaysia, but the investigation was dropped in October that year.

Nazri would later tell Parliament that Chia was never arrested by the ICAC, and that the money was returned once the case turned cold, according to Malayiakini.

Chia's name appeared in 16 of the 35 charges laid against Musa yesterday.