Several individuals likely to be called up in HRD Corp probe, says MACC

PUTRAJAYA: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has gone to the Human Resources Ministry and HRD Corp to obtain documents in relation to their investigation into the Human Resource Development Corporation audit report.

Confirming this, MACC senior director of investigation Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hashim said that the investigating team went to the Human Resources Ministry and the HRD Corp office for the purpose.

He said the focus of the investigation is on alleged corruption, power abuse and misappropriation.

“For now, we have yet to summon witnesses. However, we do not rule out the possibility of calling several individuals soon,” he said on Tuesday (July 9).

It was earlier reported that MACC investigators had gone to the ministry at around 11.20am and left an hour later.

MACC investigators had also gone to the HRD Corp headquarters at Bukit Damansara where two teams were seen entering the building.

On Friday (July 5), Human Resources Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Khairul Dzaimee Daud submitted the audit report to the MACC, following the Auditor-General and the Public Accounts Committee’s reports, which were tabled in Parliament on Thursday.

Minister Steven Sim had instructed for the report to be made, in line with the recommendations of the Auditor-General.

Suspicious real estate deals and high-risk investments were some of the issues identified by the PAC in its report on HRD Corp.

One such deal was the purchase of Menara Ikhlas for RM202.5mil in February 2021 where a deposit of RM120mil was paid upfront to a company called Crystal Clear Technology.

HRD Corp chairman Datuk Abu Huraira Abu Yazid had acknowledged the shortcomings found in the audit reports, adding that the training fund had implemented several improvements, which helped increase levy collection over the years.

The statement, however, did not address findings that HRD Corp had invested levy collected from employers on several high-risk investments despite the training fund not being an investment institution.