“It is appalling and I am really saddened by the arrests. As their elder brother, for me, this has really gone overboard and they are hitting below the belt,” he said when met at his house on Thursday.
Shafie however, said he is calm and believed this is MACC’s way of doing their investigation.
He said MACC had contacted him through his lawyer, notifying him to present himself at the agency’s office in Kota Kinabalu at 5pm on Thursday.
The former minister said he understands MACC’s role and responsibility and had always maintained that he will render his cooperation as the anti-graft agency tried to get to the bottom of the alleged embezzlement which occurred when he was the rural and regional development minister.
“We are not going to obstruct the law and we fully support them. I know they are doing their job,” he said.
The Semporna MP however, was coy when asked whether the investigation could be seen as political intimidation as charged by some Warisan leaders and supporters.
“It shows that the election is definitely coming,” Shafie said.
Whatever it is, he said any investigation should be done properly and by the book, adding that he believes while MACC is only doing their job, it should be done correctly.
Shafie is expected to be the tenth individual detained by MACC in connection with the alleged siphoning of up to RM1.5 billion in federal funds meant for rural development projects in Sabah.
The projects were planned to be carried out between 2009 and 2015 – when Shafie was the minister — in Kota Kinabalu, Kudat, Kota Belud, Ranau, Beaufort, Keningau, Lahad Datu, Tawau and Sandakan.
The RM1.5 billion was said to be part of RM7.5 billion allocated for water, electricity and road infrastructure development projects.
Some RM170 million in bank accounts and assets of the companies involved in the projects were reported to have been frozen.
Opposition leaders have claimed the investigation was politically motivated to smear the image of Warisan ahead of the 14th general election but Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and MACC have denied this, saying the agency operated independently.
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