THE Najib Razak administration diverted RM2.7 billion from Felda earmarked for upgrading its plantations to buy support for Barisan Nasional in the elections, said Azmin Ali.

The RM2.7 billion was part of the RM6 billion the land scheme earned from listing its commercial arm Felda Global Ventures Holdings (FGVH) in 2012, the economics affairs minister said.

FGVH’s listing raised RM10 billion, of which RM6 billion went to Felda, Azmin said while tabling a white paper on Felda in Parliament today.

The Felda white paper is aimed at getting a complete picture of the mismanagement during the Barisan Nasional administration, leading to the many financial troubles suffered by the land development agency.

The paper also outlines Pakatan Harapan’s strategy to fix the scheme, which was created in 1956 to uplift thousands of Merdeka-era Malaysians out of poverty. About one million individuals in about 112,600 settler families currently live in 269 Felda schemes in the peninsula.

The misuse of revenue from FGVH’s listing was one of the many examples of what Azmin termed as “corporate malfeasance” that Felda’s management under Najib – who was prime minister at the time – engaged in.

Out of the RM6 billion that was raised from FGVH’s listing, RM1.4 billion was used for questionable investments through shady transactions, Azmin said.

Another instance was when Najib himself – who was also finance minister – had ordered Felda to buy shares in Indonesian plantation firm Eagle High, which was owned by PT Rajawali Capital International, that was overpriced by 96% in 2013.

By March 2019, the RM2.3 billion investment had a market value of only RM500 million, Azmin said.

“This act (which was perpetrated by Najib) is not only irresponsible but also criminal. This diabolical act caused Felda to shoulder huge liabilities,” he said.

He also revealed how Felda’s former chairman, Mohd Isa Samad, who was appointed by Najib, had numerous conflicts of interest during his tenure. Isa was not only Felda’s chairman, but also chairman of the agency’s subsidiaries, Felda Investment Corp (FIC) and FGVH.

Azmin, who labelled Isa “F01”, said the purchase of London property Park City Grand Plaza Kensington was done without approval of the Felda board at RM331 million at a time when its market price was RM128 million.

Felda’s current management had already lodged police reports against Isa and officials under him over these deals.

These transactions had seen Felda’s liquid cash reserves dwindle from an average of RM2.5 billion between 2007 to 2011 to only RM400 million in 2017.

By the time Pakatan Harapan took over Putrajaya from Barisan Nasional in May 9 last year, Felda only had RM35 million in cash. – April 10, 2019.