MACC CALLS THREE FELDA OFFICERS TO RECORD LAND SALE PROBE STATEMENTS

KUALA LUMPUR, June 13 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has summoned three Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) officers, to record their statements to assist in the investigation into the sale of land, purportedly belonging to Felda, in Melaka.

A source from MACC said that two of the three officers involved were called last Monday and Tuesday, while the third one, who is a Felda senior officer, was called today.

“Today, we called a senior Felda officer to record the statement and obtain several documents, to help the investigation,” he told Bernama, today.

The source said that so far, no arrests have been made against any Felda official.

“The operations, dubbed ‘Ops Tanah Haram’, has been ongoing since Monday, with the dismantling of several agencies and other entities, which conspired in the syndicate to sell Felda land," he said.

According to the source, the MACC operation uncovered and detained individuals, consisting of brokers, bank officers, company directors and members of the public.

He said that the action included the seizure of 200 bank accounts, worth more than RM28 million, including fake Felda bank accounts.

Meanwhile, MACC Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Division director, Datuk Mohamad Zamri Zainul Abidin, when contacted, confirmed the matter, and that the case is being investigated under Section 16(a)(A) of the MACC Act 2009 and the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorist Financing and Proceeds Act From Unlawful Activities 2001 (AMLATFPUAA).

“MACC will work with Felda to resolve this issue in the public interest,” he said.

Yesterday, Felda reportedly said that no land owned by the agency has changed ownership or been sold to any party in the land sale syndicate transaction, but will give full cooperation to the authorities, in an effort to ensure that all investigation matters can be carried out properly.

On June 11, the media reported that the MACC arrested eight individuals, including three brokers, company directors and two members of the public, all aged 20 to 50, in Kuala Lumpur and Sabah, for accepting bribes of almost RM2 million from a syndicate which sold land belonging to Felda in Melaka.

-- BERNAMA