KUALA LUMPUR: Former Sime Darby president and group chief executive officer Datuk Seri Ahmad Zubair Murshid has been arrested for alleged criminal breach of trust involving RM80mil worth of native customary rights (NCR) land in Sarawak.
He was arrested after he surrendered to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) at about 10am yesterday after having his statement recorded.
Ahmad Zubair was released on bail and is expected to be charged today under Section 409 of the Penal Code with two counts of CBT.
MACC director of investigations Datuk Mustafa Ali confirmed the arrest but declined to elaborate.
It is learnt that Ahmad Zubair allegedly failed to protect Sime Darby's interest in the purchase and sale of the land to a private company, resulting in Sime Darby incurring a loss of more than RM80mil.
Sources said the NCR land was part of the Sarawak Upstream Expansion Plan.
Sime Darby's troubles began in 2010 when it suffered RM2.1bil in losses in its E&U (Energy and Utilities) division in the financial year ended June 30, resulting in Ahmad Zubair being asked to take a leave of absence.
The final report of the external consultants was submitted to the investigating committee on Sept 14 the same year.
Independent forensic auditors KPMG and Deloitte Enterprise Risk Services Sdn Bhd and legal consultants were appointed to look into the situation of four projects, including the Bakun Dam.
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