Halim joined the Judicial and Legal Service in 1982, serving for 22 years. He was appointed a judicial commissioner in 2005 and elevated to a High Court judge in 2007. He retired in March 2023.
Appointing an outsider to helm MACC is not without precedent as lawyer Latheefa Koya was appointed to the position back in 2019 by the then-Prime Minister Mahathir who led the Pakatan Harapan government.
Latheefa stepped down from the post after the fall of the Mahathir government in March 2020.
She had told international news agency Bloomberg in a report published on Feb 12 that Azam loved being in the MACC, saying that was all he knew.
“But the person you give responsibility or power (to) cannot hold on or love the position too much. That’s the beginning of a problem,” she was quoted as saying.
When contacted by CNA, Latheefa declined to comment on the appointment of Abdul Halim.
Edmund Terence Gomez, a former member of the MACC’s Consultation and Corruption Prevention Panel, said that while Abdul Halim’s appointment seemed to have been done hastily, the former judge did not seem to have ties with either the state or the corporate sector.
He also believed that Abdul Halim’s deep understanding of the law would help him oversee investigations conducted by the commission’s officers.
Gomez, who has written extensively about the politico-corporate scene in Malaysia, said that by applying a “judge’s lens” to investigations, Abdul Halim could ensure that only legally robust cases – backed by sufficient evidence – reach the Attorney General.
Gomez added that as the MACC has long been tainted with allegations of impropriety in the way its investigations are handled, it is good for someone from the outside to look at the existing structures.
Gomez resigned from the MACC panel in late 2021 to protest the body’s inaction regarding allegations against Azam, who was then embroiled in a controversy involving the ownership of millions of ringgit in corporate stock.
Local media subsequently reported that the Securities Commission and an MACC advisory panel cleared Azam of wrongdoing.
“The real test would be when takes over the appointment and how he performs. Only then can we gauge the independence of the new MACC chief. For now, let’s run with the positives and give him the benefit of the doubt,” said Gomez.
After passing the mandatory retirement age of 60 for public officials, Azam’s one-year contract as MACC chief was extended three times by Anwar, a move that drew criticism, including from government lawmakers.
Anwar has defended his decisions, saying that Azam has shown “extraordinary courage” in going after powerful figures allegedly involved in corruption and abuse of power.
However, that defence was tested again in February when a Bloomberg report alleged that Azam was listed as holding 17.7 million shares in financial services company Velocity Capital Bhd, citing the company’s annual filing with the Companies Commission of Malaysia dated Feb 3 last year.
The stake would be worth almost RM800,000 (US$202,455) based on the shares’ Feb 9’s closing price, well above the RM100,000 limit allowed for public servants.
After the report was published, Azam said he had acquired the shares in early 2025 and sold them that same year. He maintained he had acted within the rules.
The government ordered a probe into the allegations but has yet to make public its findings.
Azam has since filed a lawsuit against Bloomberg over the article on his shareholding, seeking RM100 million in damages.
In another article in February, Bloomberg also reported that MACC allegedly colluded with a group of businessmen – dubbed the “corporate mafia” – in corporate tussles, citing internal documents and interviews with witnesses.
The MACC has denied these allegations.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/malaysia-names-ex-judge-anti-graft-chief-6088911
