RM40 million to run PKNS FC?
The inflated expenditure is believed to be a result of political appointments in the club
(FMT) – A day after Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim announced the formation of a special task force to check financial irregularities in the Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS), a popular blogger has revealed that PKNS has allegedly spent RM40 million on football since 2008.
Writing in his web portal Malaysia-Today, Raja Petra Kamarudin claimed that was the amount spent by the state body to fund the PKNS Football Club (PKNS FC) since Pakatan Rakyat took over the state government.
He added that prior to 2008, the cost of running the football club was less than RM2.5 million per year.
“Then it started to increase, and over the last three years it has shot up to as high as RM10 million a year today,” he said.
Raja Petra revealed that the money to finance PKNS FC came from two subsidiaries: SIC and Selaman.
“The problem that PKNS is now facing is that the accounts are in a mess and no one can figure out how the money was spent or what has happened to it.
“Most of the expenditure are not supported by documentary evidence,” he added.
His revelation comes a day after Khalid informed the media that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) was currently investigating allegations that funds meant for the PKNS FC was misused.
Yesterday the state government appointed three state exco members to monitor the expenditure of PKNS funds.
The three have been tasked with monitoring funds meant for PKNS FC (RM9 million per year), entrepreneurial development (RM5 million per year) as well as corporate social responsibility (CSR) amounting to RM30 million each year.
Raja Petra also listed down the names of people involved in the management of PKNS FC, claiming that they were costing the Selangor government about RM200,000 a year in salaries on top of the allowances they receive to ‘manage’ PKNS FC.
He further claimed that these people were aware of the alleged mismanagement of PKNS FC’s funds but “no one wants to be the whistleblower, for obvious reasons”.
“They are being well paid to ‘toe the party line’,” he said.
He also added that a clerk from the finance department had left PKNS after the issue of fraud emerged.
“I suppose Pakatan Rakyat is very particular about ‘toeing the party line’. Hence these people are doing just that while enjoying millions in salaries and allowances over the last six years and while PKNS FC bleeds another RM40 million,” added Raja Petra.
