Four 'Datuk' among eight men nabbed over RM100 million land scam in Johor

JOHOR BAHRU: Police have arrested eight men, including four with the title of Datuk, for suspected involvement in the illegal transfer of three plots of government land worth more than RM100 million in Kluang.

Johor police chief Datuk Kamarul Zaman Mamat said the three pieces of land, measuring 1,699.68 hectares in total, were worth just RM1.47 million when the state government awarded them to a statutory body in 1987.

The illegal transfer of ownership happened in 1994 but the scam was uncovered only in the middle of last year, he told reporters here today.

He said one of the suspects was arrested in Johor and seven were detained in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor between 3 pm and 8 pm yesterday when they turned up to have their statements recorded.

"All those arrested are locals aged between 46 and 75. They served as members of Board of Directors of a cooperative and land office officers at the time," he said.

Kamarul Zaman said an assistant land officer of the statutory body lodged a police about the cheating case in January this year.

The complainant claimed that the three plots of land had been transferred to a private company without the knowledge and approval of the statutory agency, he said.

"Investigations show that before the land was transferred to the company, it was mortgaged to a cooperative in 1994," he added.

So far, 28 witnesses comprising company directors, a company secretary, lawyers, liquidators, Land and Mines Office staff, and officers of the statutory body had been questioned by the Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Department in connection with the case, he said.

He said all those arrested had been given police bail for one month while waiting for the investigation papers to be completed for submission to the deputy public prosecutor's office.

The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code, which provides for a maximum jail term of 10 years, whipping and fine upon conviction.

-- BERNAMA