Fertiliser cartel: MACC arrests two more individuals including company chairman

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has detained two more individuals, including the chairman of a company that is a foreign national, in connection with a rice fertiliser procurement project by an agricultural company.

According to Sinar Harian, a five-day remand order until Monday was issued by the registrar, Tuan Syahrul Sazly Md Sain, against both suspects.

The remand was made after the MACC filed the application at the Putrajaya Magistrate's Court on Thursday (Oct 31).

"The two male suspects, aged approximately 40 to 50, were detained while giving statements at the MACC headquarters late Wednesday (Oct 31) afternoon

"Initial investigations revealed that the main suspect, who is the manager of the Promotion and Marketing Division of the company, had received a quotation from a representative of the involved company to obtain approval from the company chairman," it was said on Thursday.

Sources mentioned that the chairman had approved the appointment of the foreign company without consultation with the Board of Directors.

It was noted that a direct negotiation supply contract for fertiliser worth approximately RM60mil was awarded within just six days around June 2022, despite the foreign company having never received any work from the organisation previously.

Meanwhile, MACC Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki confirmed the arrests and said that the case is being investigated under Section 16 (a)(a) of the MACC Act 2009.

As of Thursday, he said a total of three individuals had been detained, including a marketing executive of the company who was remanded from Wednesday to Saturday.

For the record, the government has allocated RM1.8bil for the procurement of national agricultural fertilisers.