Ex-Felda chairman remanded amid anti-graft probe

KUALA LUMPUR — The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) secured a court order yesterday to detain former Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) chairman Isa Samad for an investigation into alleged abuse at an investment unit of the agency.

Later in the day, the MACC also raided his home in Nilai, Negri Sembilan following a similar operation on his Selangor home the previous day.

The Magistrate’s Court in Putrajaya allowed the MACC to hold the former federal minister for five days over investigations into the purchase of hotels in London and Kuching by Felda Investment Corporation (FIC).

He was brought to the courthouse at 9.10am yesterday, clad in the bright orange MACC prison T-shirt. He was escorted by MACC officers and his counsel, Messrs K Kumaraendran and Dev Kumaraendran.

The MACC arrested Mr Isa on Tuesday and raided his home in Selangor.

Mr Kumaraendran said MACC may apply for an extension of the remand order after its initial request for a seven-day remand was reduced to five. He said the commission’s prosecutors had said they were at the tail end of their probe, but needed Mr Isa to be remanded to facilitate investigations.

“They said the reason they need Isa is because they want him to go through the documents that they have, and if he is released it will hamper their investigations,” he said. “MACC said they can apply to extend the remand order for further investigation.”

Mr Isa’s legal team argued during submissions that he should be released on the grounds that he was not a flight risk, and would not interfere with witnesses nor destroy evidence.

They also argued that he had an acute heart condition. “However, the prosecutors assured the defence that Isa will be given proper medical attention,” said Mr Kumaraendran.

MACC is investigating FIC’s purchase of a property in Kensington, London, between 2013 and 2015, for a total of RM330 million (S$105 million), when the actual value of the property at the time of purchase was said to be RM110 million.

Mr Isa is no stranger to controversy. In 2005, he was suspended for six years from the ruling United Malays National Organisation (Umno) after the party’s disciplinary board found him guilty of money politics.

He stepped down as Felda chairman when his term ended earlier this year, and resigned as Felda Global Ventures (FGV) chairman in June but was immediately appointed the acting chairman of the Land Public Transport Commission, which is better known as Spad.

FGV’s listing at the end of June 2012 dominated the news for being the world’s second-largest initial public offering (IPO) at US$3.1 billion (S$4.24 billion), behind Facebook.

But, since then, dark clouds have gathered over the land settlement organisation, as FGV’s market capitalisation has plunged by at least 65 per cent, hurting settlers who have also complained about delayed payments from Felda, which buys the palm fruit the settlers produce on their land, as well as late assistance payments from the state-backed company.

Last month, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak announced a RM1.6 billion aid package for more than 100,000 Felda settlers, as he sought to secure a vote bank among a small but important group ahead of a general election widely expected to be held later this year.

Mr Isa’s arrest has been commended by opposition leaders. Veteran opposition lawmaker Lim Kit Siang asked rhetorically if Mr Isa’s case would go the way of many other “sharks” — prominent politicians who have been investigated for corruption in the past — and escape scot-free.

A “flurry of arrests” would take place before a general election, said Mr Lim yesterday. But for all the “lighting and thunder about eradicating corruption”, it would end without any result, he said. AGENCIES