The Malaysian Insider

By Neville Spykerman

PUTRAJAYA, Sept 14 — Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo was grilled by the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) at their headquarters here today for about six hours over his palatial mansion and state-funded trips when he was Selangor mentri besar.

Pakatan Rakyat lawmakers had claimed the Selangor opposition leader’s Balinese-style mansion in Shah Alam is worth RM24 million, far beyond the wages of a state assemblyman or mentri besar.

The former dentist was also quizzed about his trips to Disneyland which were paid for by state subsidiaries. Khir has called the allegations baseless, saying the state firms made the arrangements without his knowledge.

An MACC officer told reporters that Khir arrived at the commission’s headquarters here at 8.30am and left at about 2.30pm.

Reporters, however, did not get to catch a glimpse of the former mentri besar as he entered and left from the basement car park of the building housing anti-graft body’s offices.

When contacted by The Malaysian Insider, Khir confirmed he was questioned by the MACC but declined to elaborate.

The usually upbeat politician sounded very weak and tired and admitted that he was ill and seeking medical treatment.

The former Umno Youth exco member was made Selangor mentri besar in 2000 by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad after Tan Sri Abu Hassan Omar quit the post over personal issues.

Dr Mahathir famously said he was looking for a clean man to lead the country’s most industrialised state. Khir remained mentri besar after the country’s fifth prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi led Barisan Nasional to its historic 91 per cent vote mandate in the 2004 polls.

Before Election 2008, Khir proudly boasted that Selangor would be a zero-opposition state. Instead, he lost the state to Pakatan Rakyat and was relegated to being the opposition leader.

Khir was suspended from the state assembly for a year by the Selangor state assembly’s rights and privileges committee due to his absence from the Selangor Select Committee on Competence, Accountability and Transparency (Selcat) inquiry into the alleged misconduct and inappropriate dealings of state charity Balkis.

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