Misappropriation of funds: KBS senior official misused procedure - Khairy

Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin today confirmed that the senior officer who was detained by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on suspicion of masterminding a syndicate to misappropriate government funds, was a member of staff at his ministry.

However, Khairy said he was unaware about the syndicate as he claimed that the suspect had misused a procedure which did not require approval from the minister or chief secretary.

He also said that an independent investigation team will also be established to identify the weakness in the ministry's financial management procedure.

"An immediate review of all of the inner mechanisms and governance processes related to the distribution of funds will be implemented in the ministry.

"For this purpose I have discussed with the Chief Secretary to the Government regarding the establishment of an independent investigation team to identify and leakages and improve the processes and procedures in the ministry's financial management," he told a press conference on Monday.

According to Khairy, the main objective of this team is to strengthen any weaknesses in the internal process that may lead to embezzlement of public funds.

The suspect was found to have received kickbacks in the form of cash and facilities such as two houses, 12 luxury cars, 40 branded handbags, paid insurance, credit cards and unit trust shares worth millions. -Astro AWANI/Norsiah Ramli

A ministry division secretary was detained Friday on suspicion of masterminding a syndicate to misappropriate government funds and accepting bribes amounting to some RM20 million.

The senior officer were among nine individuals, including a woman, who were arrested by the MACC during the Ops Tiris operation.

MACC's director of investigations Datuk Azam Baki said the syndicate was believed to have been active for the past five years causing the government a loss of over RM100 million.