Commission raids Unisel, MBI and contractor’s premises to investigate RM16mil payment

(The Star) – The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) carried out simultaneous raids on five locations in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur in its probe of RM16mil allegedly paid by a Selangor government-owned company to a private firm for maintenance work.

The places raided included the Universiti Selangor (Unisel) main campus and office, two offices belonging to the contractor – Jana Niaga Sdn Bhd – and the Menteri Besar Selangor Incorporated (MBI) office.

In all, officers took away 10 boxes and one suitcase filled with documents relating to the payment made by MBI to Jana Niaga for maintenance work of student accommodations at the Unisel main campus in Bestari Jaya.

Sources said MBI had allegedly made the payment to Jana Niaga via two transactions of RM10mil and RM6mil in 2015 and 2016 respectively.

Initial reports received by MACC showed that MBI had paid Jana Niaga even though its contract had been terminated by Unisel.

The sources added that the MACC probe focused on the reasons why the payments were made even though Jana Niaga had failed to fulfil the contract agreement for the work done in Unisel in 2012.

MACC director of investigations Datuk Simi Abd Ghani said the investigating teams seized documents related to the case from the different locations.

“We’re still in the early stage of our investigations and we will gather strong and sufficient evidence before we proceed,” he added.

MACC officers raided the Unisel main campus in Bestari Jaya and office here, Jana Niaga’s offices in Desa Pandan and Bestari Jaya, and MBI’s office in Bangunan Darul Ehsan here.

At the MBI office, five MACC officers started their inspection at 10.45am and left at 5.50pm with a medium-sized suitcase and a box filled with documents.

Four boxes of documents were taken from the Unisel Treasurer’s office in Section 7 here at 4.30pm after the officers spent nearly seven hours there.

Other MACC officers also went to the Unisel main campus in Bestari Jaya, Kuala Selangor, and left with three boxes of documents at 4.50pm.

A Unisel spokesman said it would give its fullest cooperation to the MACC investigation.

In Kuala Lumpur, four uniformed officers went to Jana Niaga’s office in Jalan 4/76C in Desa Pandan at 10.25am and left carrying two large boxes of documents at 4.26pm.

When approached, one of the officers said the documents were from 2011 onwards.