Abdul Gani Patail

Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Abdul Gani bin Patail (born 6 October 1955) is a Malaysian prosecutor. He was the Attorney General of Malaysia from 2002 to 2015, the first from Sabah to hold the position (hailing from Lahad Datu and was born in Lahad Datu district).[1]

In this Malay name, there is no family name. The name Patail is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Abdul Gani.
Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima
Abdul Gani Patail
PMN PSM SUMW SPDK DGSM SJMK PNBS SSIS SSAP DPMP
8th Attorney General of Malaysia
In office
1 January 2002 – 27 July 2015
MonarchsSirajuddin
Mizan Zainal Abidin
Abdul Halim
Prime MinisterMahathir Mohamad
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Najib Razak
Preceded byAinum Mohd Saaid
Succeeded byMohamed Apandi Ali
Personal details
Born (1955-10-06) 6 October 1955
Lahad Datu, Crown Colony of North Borneo (now Sabah, Malaysia)
SpouseMaimon Datuk Haji Arif
Alma materUniversity of Malaya
ProfessionProsecutor

In July 2015, Abdul Gani informed police that investigators had enough information to prepare a charge sheet against Prime Minister Najib Razak.[2] Yet Abdul Gani was later removed from his position for "health reasons" and replaced by Mohamed Apandi Ali.[3]

Background

Abdul Gani Patail graduated with a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) degree from the University of Malaya in 1979. He began his legal career the following year as a Deputy Public Prosecutor (the title for a prosecuting officer in Malaysia) in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. In 1985, he was promoted to Senior Federal Counsel for Sabah.[4]

Gani also amongst the graduate of University Malaya alongside Sudirman Haji Arshad, Idrus Harun (Former General Solicitor, and the current Attorney General of Malaysia), Amdan Mat Din (father of Aizat Amdan - Malaysian Singer ) in final examination of 1979/1980 academic years.

In January 1994, Abdul Gani moved to the Attorney General's Chambers in Kuala Lumpur. There he was appointed Head of the Prosecution Division (1994 and again in 2000), Head of the Advisory and International Division (1995) and Commissioner of Law Revision (1997).[4]

On 1 January 2002, he was appointed Attorney General of Malaysia.[4]

Abdul Gani's tenure as Attorney General ended in 2015 when the Chief Secretary to the Government announced he had stepped down due to health reasons. The announcement was abrupt, and Patail himself was apparently unaware of the decision to have him removed from his post.[5] Prior to this, he was head of a multi-agency taskforce investigating claims of misappropriation of funds allegedly involving prime minister Najib Razak.[6]

Investigating 1MDB corruption scandal
Main article: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

On 2 July 2015, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Malaysian investigators have traced nearly US$700 million of deposits into what they believe are personal bank accounts of Prime Minister Najib Razak.[7]

Corruption allegations swirling around the debt-laden state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) pose the biggest threat to Najib's credibility since he took office in 2009. The prime minister chairs the state-owned firm's advisory board.

On 4 July 2015, Abdul Gani confirms he received documents from an official investigation making the link between Najib and 1MDB. The documents pave the way for possible criminal charges.[8][9]

On 27 July 2015, chief secretary to the government Ali Hamsa released a statement announcing that Abdul Gani had health problems and would be replaced by former Federal Court judge Mohamed Apandi Ali.[10] A constitutional lawyer had told Malaysiakini that Abdul Gani could institute a legal challenge on his removal after claiming he did not know he was withdrawn from leading the Attorney General Chambers, by asking the courts to interpret Article 145 (5) and (6).[11]

On 16 May 2018, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, following a meeting with Abdul Gani, revealed that the latter told him he was in the midst of preparing to charge Najib when he was removed.[12][13][14][2]

In August 2020, Ali Hamsa, who was chief secretary to the government from 2012 to 2018, testified in court that he had personally handed a termination letter to Abdul Gani in 2015, which was drafted by his assistant in Najib Razak's presence.[15]

Honours

Honours of Malaysia

See also

References
  1. "Gani Patail, first local to hold post of AG | Sayang Sabah". Archived from the original on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  2. "Former AG prepped charge sheet against Najib: Mahathir". www.straitstimes.com. 16 May 2018.
  3. Shagar, Loshana K.; Mageswari, M. (28 July 2015). "Mohamed Apandi Ali replaces Gani Patail as Attorney-General". The Star.
  4. Attorney General's Profile Attorney General's Chambers. Accessed 13 June 2010
  5. "Gani says in the dark over sudden termination | Malaysia | Malay Mail".
  6. "Gani Patail no longer Attorney-General, chief secretary says". Malay Mail Online. 28 July 2015.
  7. Wright, Tom; Clark, Simon (2 July 2015). "Investigators Believe Money Flowed to Malaysian Leader Najib's Accounts Amid 1MDB Probe". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660.
  8. "AG confirms seeing documents on PM graft allegations". Malaysiakini. 4 July 2015.
  9. "Malaysia's attorney general says has seen documents on Najib allegations". Reuters. 4 July 2015.
  10. "Mohamed Apandi replaces Gani Patail as Malaysian Attorney-General". www.straitstimes.com. 28 July 2015.
  11. Yatim, Hafiz (28 July 2015). "Expert: Gani can challenge his removal in court". Malaysiakini. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  12. Chie, Kow Gah (16 May 2018). "PM says ex-AG told him about plan to charge Najib". Malaysiakini.
  13. Ibrahim, Ida Nadirah (16 May 2018). "Dr M: Gani said was about to charge Najib when axe fell". Malay Mail.
  14. Tay, Chester (16 May 2018). "Dr Mahathir: Gani Patail was preparing to charge Najib before he was removed". The Edge Markets.
  15. Singh, Sharanjit (24 August 2020). "Ali Hamsa reveals how Gani Patail was issued termination letter". New Straits Times.
  16. "Semakan Penerima Darjah Kebesaran, Bintang dan Pingat". Archived from the original on 29 September 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  17. "List of award recipients in conjunction with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's birthday". The Star. 7 June 2003. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  18. "CJ and Ghaz conferred Tun". Sira Habibu. The Star. 4 June 2005. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  19. "Jackie Chan now a Datuk". Sira Habibu. The Star. 1 February 2015. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  20. "83 Datuks in Malacca list". Lee Yuk Peng. The Star. 9 October 2005. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  21. "Sultan of Pahang's 75th birthday honours list". The Star. 26 October 2005. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  22. "Tunku Mahkota Johor ketuai senarai penerima darjah". Utusan Online. Archived from the original on 29 August 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  23. "The Sultan of Selangor's Birthday Honours List". The Star. 13 December 2003. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
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