(Nov 11): Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali's appointment as attorney-general (A-G) slightly more than three months ago was nothing short of controversial.

It came amid alleged government interference in the probe into 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), when enforcement officers were arrested or transferred, when the Cabinet was reshuffled, while Apandi's predecessor, Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, was removed ahead of his retirement.

The events that led up to Apandi's appointment, as well as his links to ruling party Umno –  news reports said he once served as Kelantan Umno treasurer – have become fodder for critics.

But in his first media interview since taking the position of A-G in July, Apandi was eager to clear the air over the controversies surrounding him – starting with his contentious biography.

“It is not correct! I was never, have never, ever been an Umno treasurer,” the 65-year old told The Malaysian Insider, thumping his hand against the dark leather armrest of his sofa to emphasise his point.

He said he was unaware of how the “falsehood” entered his official biography, adding: “I want to scream at the person who wrote the biography!”

Dressed in a red shirt and blue jeans, with a slight frown on his face, it was clear that the A-G was only half-joking in his indignation over the long-surviving myth.

Speaking of his time as an Umno member from 1982 to 1991, Apandi said the highest official position he held was that of the Umno Youth Chief in the Pengkalan Chepa division in Kelantan.

But the former federal court judge was quick to add that his post in Umno was “nothing” and had no links to the state liaison committee.

He was also known as Umno's “legal adviser” because he handled the party's election petitions after the 1982 general election.

But in the party constitution, there was no post known as the legal adviser, said Apandi.

Some would argue that even sans positions, his long years in Umno would make him beholden to the party.

But Apandi retorted that he had spent far longer time in the Bar Council: 12 years, from 1991 to 2003, when he even spoke up against the government when they were wrong.

He had served as the Bar council treasurer for two terms, making him a part of the “inner circle”, he added.

“I've been a victim of wrong perception, because, as far as I'm concerned, my short tenure in Umno – obviously I didn't hold any high posts – have been used (against me) to say that I am an Umno man and whatnot.

“But, on the other hand, I was more active in the Bar Council.”

But Apandi's history is not the only thing that has come to haunt him since taking office. Malaysians were largely taken aback when the attorney-general promptly disbanded the task force investigating 1MDB.

The task force consisted of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), the police, Bank Negara Malaysia, and the A-G.

In its place, the National Revenue Recovery Enforcement team (NRRET) was set up, which Apandi heads. And he insisted that NRRET has nothing to do with 1MDB.

Apandi admitted that it was Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak himself who offered him the job as A-G at such short notice.

“It was surprising to me. I was in fact this year looking forward to my retirement –  I'm due to retire next year – to going on holidays with my wife, and then suddenly this offer came in,” said Apandi, who was serving as federal court judge when the offer came.

He said he was given two days to respond, and he consulted his wife and fellow judges as well as the chief justice over whether to take up the job.

“My decision was based on, ‘I think the country needs me’. So when the offer was made, I took it.

“Somebody must do the job. I took it, for King and country.”

Since taking on the position, Apandi said he had no regrets.

“My conscience is clear. The softest pillow is a clear conscience,” he added.

Excerpts from the interview

TMI: You were once the Kelantan Umno treasurer. Do you think this will be used against you, for pandering towards the government in your current duties as A-G?

Apandi: Now, Kelantan Umno treasurer. This, I must seek your help to tell the world that it is a falsehood.

TMI: Falsehood?

Apandi: Yes. This is not correct. I was never, have never, ever been an Umno treasurer.

TMI: Your bio states otherwise.

Apandi: This has been going on. Bio? Who wrote the bio? I also don't know. I want to scream at the person who wrote the bio. Never. And this thing, you can easily check. It's in the records. This is not correct.

TMI: Why didn't Umno come up and say, ‘He wasn't Kelantan Umno treasurer?’

Apandi: No big deal for them. They might even be proud of it.

TMI: This one doesn't look good on you, Tan Sri.

Apandi: That's why I looked at it (the interview request) and I thought, Wah, this is an opportunity. Never, never in my life.

TMI: So you were never involved in politics?

Apandi: I was the legal adviser for Umno. They termed it legal adviser.

You know why? You take the Umno constitution. There is no post known as legal adviser. No! You know why I was called legal adviser? Because I did Umno’s election petition cases. I did a lot of election petitions for Umno. All the cases in Kelantan, from 1982 onwards, when I became a lawyer. I went into private practice, so after the 1982 general election, I took on all their election petition cases.

TMI: You represented Umno, hence the tag?

Apandi: Yes, Umno legal adviser. And I tell you, who was the treasurer at that time? You can ask him, he's still alive. At that time he was known as Datuk Nik Husain Abdul Rahman. Now he's a Tan Sri. He's the chairman of Malaysia-Thai Development. He was the one who made the road from Karak to Kuala Lumpur. The first joint venture for Malaysia-Thai development.

TMI: Were you ever an Umno member?

Apandi: I was.

TMI: Ordinary Umno member?

Apandi: Please wait, it is a long story. For the record, I was an Umno member. But during my practice, I was very active in the Bar Council. And to be an office bearer of the Bar Council, you must not be a member of any political party. So I resigned from whatever political association or party when I got involved in the Bar Council. And for your information, I was in the Bar Council for almost 12 years (1991-2003). This is not in the write-up about me.

And I want to emphasise, I held the post of treasurer. Twice. I want to emphasise some more. The very building, now owned by Bar Council, was my idea when I was treasurer. I told the Bar Council, ‘Hey, we've been renting premises here and there. High time we purchased one.’ I was responsible and I found the money for it. And there you are, the building. It should be named Bangunan Apandi.

And during my time in the Bar Council, we organised the most successful Commonwealth Law Conference in 1999, the 16th Commonwealth Conference. And it is because we were so successful, I became the treasurer and then we collected a lot of money. With that, I came up with the idea of purchasing our own building.
So, in comparing my life as an Umno member and a member of the Bar Council, I spent more time in Bar Council than Umno.

TMI: How many years in Umno?

Apandi: From 1982 to 1991.

TMI: Did you hold any position in Umno?

Apandi: In Umno I was the Youth Chief of the division, Pengkalan Chepa. That's all. It had nothing to do with the state liaison committee. Nothing. The post of treasurer is related to big state liaisons. I was never a treasurer. Please erase it from whatever it is.

But if you're talking about being a treasurer, I was a treasurer of the Bar Council and I was a member of the office bearers, the inner circle. You know who are the inner circle? President, vice-president, treasurer, secretary. Four people. These are the inner circle. They can all be Bar Council members, but they are out of the inner discussion. I was a part of it.

First time I was a treasurer, I started speaking my mind. So they all tried to gag me. Scolded me. The inner circle. The likes of Tommy Thomas and Sulaiman Abdullah. I tell you the names.

They wanted to get me because at that time I was chairman of the Kelantan Bar. I was chairman of the Kelantan Bar for seven years. So as chairman of the Kelantan Bar, the papers sometimes came and asked me whatnot, so I gave my take on whatever the issue was. Some of my views weren't liked by the inner circle of the Bar Council. So they started hammering me and whatnot. So we were practically banging tables. Me and Sulaiman (Abdullah). And then I saw that everybody was watching what I said, they were trying to get me. We have the right to talk, isn't it? Outside you tell people, we have the right to talk, here in the Bar Council you are trying to gag me. I tried to talk to the paper, you tell me there's no such thing, you should stop. That is a gag. You were trying to gag me. So I resigned as Bar Council member in 2001. The person who can tell all of this, I tell you, is someone who is synonymous with the Bar Council, Ms Catherine Eu. She's still alive, her memory's still good, go ask her. She can vouch for whatever I'm telling you.

Talking about the Bar Council, I was in the Bar Council before the likes of Ambiga (Datuk S. Ambiga), Lim Chee Wee, Christopher Leong and Steven Thiru. Steven Thiru (current Bar Council president) was a young lawyer when I was doing election petitions. He followed me around, carrying my bag and file.

TMI: Coming back to your time in Umno, don't you think people will see you as being biased in cases involving Umno?

Apandi: I've been a victim of a wrong perception. That's what I want to say. I've been a victim of a wrong perception because of my short tenure in Umno, where I did not hold any high post, this has been used to say that I am an Umno man and whatnot. But on the other hand I was more active in the Bar Council and I'm telling you there were instances when the government was not right, I told them so.

I cannot recall the exact date, but it must be in 1998 or 1999. Six Indians were shot in Pengkalan Chepa. They were from Kerala. And one of them worked as a hospital attendant. They were shot. All killed. Shot in the head, shot in the eyes, in the neck. And you know what, I found out none of them were criminals. They (police) acted on wrong information. It was murder. So I made a big hoo-ha, because it was in my state. I wrote a memorandum and went to see Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who was the then prime minister and home minister. Gave him a memorandum. All on my own you know? That time I was Kelantan Bar chairman.
And because of that, they directed an inquiry be carried out. I attended the inquiry. The inquiry was held in Tumpat. I was based in Kota Baru. I travelled to and fro, pro bono. I collected nothing. After everything ended, the finding was these fellows were wrongly killed.

I also briefed the Bar Council. We had a big EGM where I explained everything, what happened, how the police acted high-handedly. And I said they were executed, because it was impossible to shoot in the dark, right in the head, and the eyes and the ears, all six of them. And they threw a rusty revolver near the bodies and said that they opened fire. Not even a mark on the police vehicle of any shooting. That's why I was so angry with the police. The records are all there. So to say that I am pro-government is not true. I am pro-law.

And Karpal (Singh), the late Karpal, kept on saying to me, ‘Umno, Umno’. I reminded him of this incident. I said to him, ‘Mr Karpal, you surely would remember. After I spent my time and energy bringing it to the attention of the government, you quietly went and saw the family, sued the government, and collected the money. The government settled without going to court because they knew they were at fault.’

TMI: What is the National Revenue Recovery Enforcement Team (NRRET) probing now? When you announced it, you said it was not looking into 1MDB. So what exactly are they investigating?

Apandi: NRRET is my rebranding of an old task force formed by my predecessor way back in 2011. Because there are so many task forces, everyone got confused. Forget about task force. New branding. Revenue recovery is to recover whatever revenue due to the government which is lost as a result of failing to declare proper income tax, failing to declare excise duty under Customs, and then failing to declare transactions of money overseas. Money coming in comes under money laundering. So these are the major areas that we are investigating and going after. It involves so many agencies. The police, MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission), Customs Department, Bank Negara... all the agencies involved. We also go after money laundering. Do you know that a lot of money is going out of the country? Illegal outflow. We have got for example two million Indonesian workers here. Of course they send the money almost monthly or weekly. How do they send? Some legal, some have agents. These are the commissions that should go to the government. But no, because they do it underground. They've got an agent in a bank in Indonesia, and they've got another agent here. All not registered. How do they do it? And it has been done. We use agent provocateurs (undercover agents) we managed to trace all of them. We also send agent provocateurs to Indonesia. And it has nothing to do with 1MDB, of course.

TMI: Some people might argue, that that's just going after the small fish.

Apandi: No, we go after big ones. Because these don't come to light or out in the open. Sometimes, when we confront them, for not paying their taxes, for example, they tell us, ‘Okay, please don't take me to court, bad for my image and whatnot. We want to pay whatever is due.’ And they pay quietly. It's acceptable. – The Malaysian Insider