Police, he said, had submitted their findings to the Attorney-General’s Chambers.
However, this contrasts with a statement by Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar last August that the probe had been dropped.
Zahid told Parliament investigations into former Bank Negara governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz, former Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief Abu Kassim Mohamed and former attorney-general Abdul Ghani Patail had been completed.
“The findings were submitted to the Attorney-General’s Chambers on Nov 29 last year for further directive and study by the deputy public prosecutor,” the home minister said, according to a report in The Star.
Zahid said this in a written reply to a question from Mahfuz Omar (PAS-Pokok Sena) who asked about the status of the report lodged by Umno Youth vice-chief Khairul Azwan Harun on the alleged conspiracy.
Last July 26, Azwan lodged a report against Gani, Zeti and Abu Kassim, alleging conspiracy by the trio to topple Prime Minister Najib Razak and the Malaysian government. He claimed they had provided confidential information to foreign agencies, including the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.
However, on Aug 3, Bernama reported Khalid as saying police had called off the investigation.
This was because, Khalid is reported to have said, the investigation revealed that Khairul Azwan had lodged the report based on hearsay.
Bernama quoted Khalid as saying: “We have recorded a statement from Khairul Azwan… he could not present evidence as to what he had claimed in his report. We could not carry out investigations based on hearsay. Thus the police do not intend to proceed with the investigation and had stopped investigating last week.”
But, later the same month, several Umno leaders, including Ismail Sabri Yaakob, revived the issue and urged the trio to clear their names over the alleged conspiracy.
Commenting on Azwan’s report, Gani told Bernama last July that the allegations were a publicity stunt without any substance. He added that the attempts at character assassination would trigger a backlash and instead undermine the government in the long run.
Zeti and Abu Kassim had said then that they would have to refer to their lawyers before commenting.
Many lawyers came forward to say they would defend the trio if the government decided to charge them.