Task force officer’s contract ended according to terms of service, says A-G

Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali says the termination from employment of former Attorney-General’s Chambers officer Jessica Gurmeet Kaur was according to the terms of her contract. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, August 22, 2015.

Sacked Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) officer Jessica Gurmeet Kaur's termination from employment was according to her terms of service, reported The Star.

Quoting Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali, the English daily said the Singaporean who had Malaysian permanent residency (PR) was a contract officer.

"Jessica Kaur was a contract officer and her contract of service was terminated as per the terms of the contract. That is all I can say at the moment. No further comment,” Apandi was reported saying.

News broke on Thursday night that Jessica had been sacked and her permanent residency revoked. Her three children's residency permits were also cancelled.

Her police bail meanwhile was revoked last Friday, a source was quoted as saying.

Jessica was arrested along with former Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) adviser Tan Sri Rashpal Singh on August 1 and held for a day for questioning in connection with information leaks on investigations into 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

They were later released on bail after police recorded their statements.

Jessica was part of a task force established to investigate 1MDB and the RM2.6 billion channelled into Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's personal bank accounts. She headed the task force secretariat, administration and finance department.

The Star quoted sources as saying it was better to keep Jessica in the country as “if she is in Singapore, all hell will break loose”.

However, she is expected to file a judicial review to challenge a deportation order issued against her by the Home Ministry.

Jessica, who has lived in Malaysia for 20 years, is also seeking to challenge her termination from employment at AGC.

Rashpal, a former member of the MACC advisory board, was said to have met Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown in London regarding information about 1MDB.

But he was cleared by MACC director of strategic communications Datuk Rohaizad Yaakob who said last month that Rashpal had no access to the agency's ongoing probe as his tenure as a board member had ended in February.

Singapore paper The Straits Times meanwhile reported a statement by the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, saying that its High Commission in Kuala Lumpur had met Jessica and was providing consular assistance.

- TMI