Felda CEO won't comply with chairman request to resign - letter

The chairman of Malaysia's Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd has asked Chief Executive Zakaria Arshad to resign - a request that he has refused, according to a letter by Zakaria that was seen by Reuters.

A spokesman for Felda Global, the world's third largest palm plantation operator, said that the board had asked for Zakaria to take a leave of absence effective immediately.

In the letter, dated June 5, Zakaria said he had been accused of wrongdoing in payments to a Afghan company that Felda Global had done business with.

"The chairman has asked that I resign as president and FGV group chief executive due to accusations that I have violated corporate governance code," he said in the letter.

"The payment process... was approved and implemented by the previous chief executive... I am not guilty of those accusations and will not resign as instructed."

Zakaria was appointed in April last year, replacing Felda Global's previous chief executive who oversaw a failed controversial deal to buy a stake in Indonesia's PT Eagle High Plantations Tbk.