THE Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission today said it has opened an investigation file against a contractor for alleged fraud claims amounting to RM80 million worth of landscape projects involving Seri Perdana, the official residence of the prime minister and deputy prime minister in Putrajaya.

It is also understood that the projects, which were awarded to the contractor by a government-linked agency based in Putrajaya, also covered landscaping projects for government premises in the nation’s administrative capital.

Yesterday, investigators had raided the contractor’s office and seized documents related to the case.

Sources said the company was awarded the contracts between 2016 and last year to maintain and to provide manpower involved in the projects.

“The company was said to have failed in executing its work but had made full claims. Checks also revealed that the contractor had no capacity to cultivate plants for landscaping,” the source said.

According to the same source, the contractor also failed to provide enough manpower to conduct maintenance of the projects yet made full claims exceeding the number of workforce supplied.

Meanwhile, MACC investigation department director Simi Abdul Ghani confirmed it was investigating the case but refused to comment further.

The revealation came hours after a chief operating officer of a GLC was remanded this morning for alleged fraud.

It is not known if the two cases are related.

MACC, in a statement issued yesterday, said a 59 year-old was detained at his office at noon following the anti-graft body’s probe into a corruption case involving  RM300 million worth of housing projects in Putrajaya.

The MACC team had also conducted search at three locations in the Klang Valley to obtain documents related to the case.

According to the source, the project was awarded to the contractor through a normal tender process but it was intentionally hijacked, causing the contractor to fail in completing the job.

“The project was then given to other contractor believed to be linked to the suspect. These moves were believed to have been planned,” the source said. – June 28, 2018.