Idris Jala: Putrajaya picked me for FGV probe in my personal capacity

By MT Webmaster On Jun 8, 2017

(MMO) – Pemandu Associates chief executive Datuk Seri Idris Jala said today he was appointed to look into the corporate irregularities within Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV) purely in his personal capacity.

Questions had been asked over the government’s decision to appoint the former senator and federal minister to investigate certain transactions between an FGV unit and a long-time client, the Afghan-owned Safitex.

“Yesterday, the Government appointed me, in my personal capacity, as an independent party to establish the facts and recommend the way forward, following the FGV Board’s recent suspension of several senior management figures.

“Currently, I am totally focused on the work at hand to establish the relevant facts of the case. While I understand both the media and public’s interest for further details, it is premature for me to make any statements at this juncture,” Idris said in a brief statement.

Earlier today, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin questioned Idris as the government’s choice for an independent investigator instead of an accounting firm.

The Pagoh MP who was once international trade and industries minister said Idris “is not an accounting firm” and suggested the Sarawakian may not be suitable to undertake a major investigation into the boardroom crisis that has cast a spotlight on the world’s third-largest palm oil plantation operator.

But FGV chairman Tan Sri Isa Samad and the group’s suspended president and CEO Datuk Zakaria Arshad have both welcomed the appointment of Idris as independent investigator.

Zakaria was ordered by the FGV board to take an indefinite leave from work on June 6 pending an internal investigation into delayed payments owed to its subsidiary Delima Oil Products Sdn Bhd and Safitex.

He had denied breaching corporate governance practices and instead alleged corruption and power abuse in the company, which is currently being investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.