FELDA has lodged a police report over the ownership transfer of its property at Jalan Semarak after finding elements of fraud, its chairman Shahrir Samad said today.

It has also obtained a private caveat on the land to prevent any further dealings on the piece of real estate, said to be worth around RM200 million, he told a press conference following a newspaper expose on the dubious transaction.

Shahrir said the element of fraud involved a company – Synergy Promenade Sdn Bhd – that was given the power of attorney to develop the land.

The company had sold the land to itself for RM270 million and Felda did not receive a sen.

“The holders of the power of attorney sold the land to themselves and Felda, which owns the land, did not receive any money,” Shahrir said at a press conference today.

The expose by Berita Harian today said that the transfer took place during former Felda chairman Isa Samad’s tenure, which ended this year.

The land had been earmarked for the Kuala Lumpur Vertical City (KLVC) development project, which will feature seven towers, including Felda’s iconic development, Menara Felda.

Shahrir said Synergy Promenade was given the power of attorney on September 2, 2014 to develop the land on behalf of Felda Investment Corporation (FIC), a subsidiary of Felda.

The development, however, was only revealed to the Felda board of directors months later for backdated approval.

Confirming Berita Harian’s exclusive report today, he said he knew about the matter in January after he took over the chairman’s post from Isa and that was when Felda officers informed him about three land sale and purchase agreements.

Shahrir said it was not right that there were Felda board members who were also on the board of directors of FIC and he asked them to resign.

“At the end of January, the officer informed me that there were three sale and purchase agreements involving Felda land on Jalan Semarak,” said Shahril.

It involved four sale and purchase agreements (S & P) involving prices of RM54.5 million, RM96.9 million, RM12 million and RM106.4 million, totalling RM270 million.

After its own investigations, Felda applied for a private caveat on the land through the Federal Territory Land and Mines Office in January this year but it was rejected due to problems with documents at the Land Office.

“We tried again and received it on April 14 after appealing to the land office,” he said.

The police report was lodged on December 12 after bringing the matter to the Prime Minister’s Department and seeking the attorney-general’s advice, he added.

Shahrir said that Felda planned to take civil action.

“We will not stop with a police report but will take civil action, as well as canceling the power of attorney to the company,” he said.

Also present at the press conference today was Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Razali Ibrahim and senior Felda officials.

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) deputy chief commissioner (operations) Azam Baki also confirmed the case to Astro Awani, saying the agency had been studying documents on the matter.

However, he said the case was likely due to weak corporate governance rather than fraud or abuse of power.

He said police were leading the investigations and the MACC would assist if any element of graft was found. – December 21, 2017.