PETALING JAYA: After sparking a row by distancing themselves from the Anti-Corruption Advisory Board chairman’s decision to clear the country’s top graft-buster, six members of the board had yet to respond as at 8pm yesterday to the latest statement by Tan Sri Abu Zahar Ujang.

       Board member Datuk Seri Azman Ujang, in a WhatsApp reply, said he had no comment on Abu Zahar’s latest statement, while Datuk David Chua Kok Tee and Datuk Dr Mohammad Agus Yusoff also declined to comment.

       Calls and text messages to the other board members – Tan Sri Ismail Omar, Datuk Seri Akhbar Satar and Datuk Dr Hamzah Kassim – were not answered as at press time.

       Mohammad Agus, however, refuted talk that all six members would resign from the board.

       “No, not true,” he said.

       At a press conference earlier yesterday, Abu Zahar claimed that the six had distanced themselves from his statement on Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki only because of the backlash it had received.

       On Jan 8, the six said they were not satisfied with the explanation provided by Azam, although Abu Zahar had cleared Azam of the shares controversy.

       They said that the comments by Abu Zahar, who declared that Azam had committed no wrong, were his personal view, and a separate discussion had been held on the matter where several proposals were made.

       Among the proposals was for the issue to be brought to an independent committee, a Parliamentary Special Committee on Corruption, or the MACC Complaints Committee.

       On Jan 5, Abu Zahar said there was no pecuniary interest or conflict of interest on Azam’s part over the issue of acquiring shares in two companies in 2015 as Azam (then MACC’s director of investigations) did not purchase the shares himself.

       Instead, it was done by his younger brother, who used Azam’s trading account.