KUALA LUMPUR, April 11 — Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigators have allegedly found indications of an alleged abuse-of-power scheme involving a former chief executive officer (CEO) of a government statutory body over share sales involving public funds.
A MACC source said the individual is believed to have determined the terms and purchase price of the shares, while also acting as both proposer and approver in closed-door negotiations with minority shareholders, giving him full control over the entire process.
“Preliminary investigations also found elements of bribery and money laundering through the transfer of transaction proceeds to offshore entities to conceal the identities of recipients, including the use of nominee accounts and beneficial owners,” he said.
“Investigations also found that part of the funds was believed to have been reinvested into publicly listed companies on Bursa Malaysia, estimated at around RM30 million, to disguise the financial flows as legitimate investments,” he added.
Overall, foreign fund flows detected in the investigation are estimated to exceed US$51.3 million (RM203.4 million) and are believed to involve companies incorporated in the British Virgin Islands (BVI).
Of the total amount, six transactions involving six bank accounts in Singapore were worth more than US$48 million.
Another transaction worth about US$3.3 million was traced to Labuan and involved two beneficial owners of companies that received payments from public funds.
Two bank accounts in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), believed to belong to the former CEO, are also being investigated, involving about US$10,000 and and 37,000 UAE dirhams — together equivalent to around RM80,000.
A total of RM16.8 million has been been frozen, including six individual accounts containing around RM11 million.
MACC Senior Director of the Special Operations Division Datuk Mohamad Zamri Zainul, when contacted, confirmed that investigations are ongoing.
He said the MACC is widening the probe, including seeking cooperation from authorities in Singapore, the British Virgin Islands, the United Arab Emirates and Labuan to examine cross-border transactions and trace related assets.
On April 9, the MACC remanded a former chief executive of a government statutory body and a company chairman for four days over alleged collusion in a share sale deal linked to the agency.
Investigators said preliminary findings indicated the 2022 to 2023 transaction involved an unreasonable overvaluation that may have caused losses to public funds exceeding RM300 million, while 62 personal and company bank accounts holding about RM450 million were frozen.