PETALING JAYA: Mimos Bhd did not create a separate bank account for disbursing allocations from the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry (Mosti) for research funds, despite clear requirements for it.
The Auditor-General’s Report 1/2026 revealed that RM65.78mil for research, development, commercialisation and innovation (R&D&C&I) programmes was channelled into Mimos’ existing corporate account as of August 2024.
The programmes are to accelerate Malaysia’s adoption of new technologies, strengthen innovation capacity and support collaboration between the government, industry and universities to realise the 12th Malaysia Plan objectives.
Under an agreement signed in November 2021, Mimos, as the implementing and monitoring agency, was required to maintain a dedicated account to ensure transparency and prevent mixing with other business operations.
“Mimos clarified that opening multiple bank accounts would complicate operations and increase the risk of errors.
“The absence of a separate bank account for the funds makes it difficult for the ministry to accurately identify and track fund utilisation.
“This situation also creates a risk of the agency misusing the funds for other purposes and complicates recovery should there be a need to return unspent balances to the government,” said the report.
The report stated that as of June 2025, a project balance of RM20.17mil remained unspent.
It also noted that receipts and expenditure of the funds were recorded through the company’s SAP financial system, with each fund tracked individually using unique fund codes and cost centres for monitoring purposes.
Mimos is a strategic agency under Mosti and premier innovation centre in semiconductors, microelectronics and ICT technologies, contributing to the country’s socio-economic growth through patentable technology platforms, products and solutions.
