PUTRAJAYA • Malaysia's anti-graft agency yesterday arrested former spy chief Datuk Hasanah Abdul Hamid to help in a probe over the misappropriation of election funds.
She used to be the director-general of the Malaysian External Intelligence Organisation (MEIO).
Madam Hasanah was arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) when she was called to the anti-graft body's headquarters to give a statement on the matter.
MACC deputy chief commissioner (operations) Azam Baki confirmed the arrest but did not give any details. "Yes, we are detaining her for questioning," he said when contacted.
Madam Hasanah was in the limelight in recent weeks over a letter written by her to CIA director Gina Haspel, appealing to the United States to support the administration of then-prime minister Najib Razak.
The letter was written a few days before Najib was toppled from power in the May 9 general election.
Several screenshots of the letter were leaked and went viral.
Amid an uproar over the letter, Madam Hasanah's lawyer Shaharudin Ali said that the letter was legal and fell under the Official Secrets Act.
The MACC, in a statement quoted by the Malay Mail news site, said initial investigations revealed that her case is connected to one involving seven high-ranking government officers who were remanded for five days on Tuesday.
Of the seven, one is a deputy director-general of the Research Division of the Prime Minister's Department, another name for the MEIO.
THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
