KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has detained the managing director of a real estate company to assist in an investigation into the subdivision of 650ha of Malay reserve land into non-Malay land in Sitiawan, Manjung, Perak.
MACC’s investigation division senior director, Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hashim, told Scoop that the suspect would be remanded for four days until Friday.
Hishamuddin said the remand order was obtained at the Ipoh magistrates’ court as the 44-year-old suspect was believed to be involved in the illegal subdivision of the land, which was subsequently sold as housing and bungalow plots.
Earlier, a source revealed that the MACC’s investigation found a total of 317 lots that were subdivided into individuals and companies, most of which were non-Malay.
This arrest follows the detention of a former deputy registrar of titles at the Perak Land and Mines Office, who was charged in the Ipoh sessions court last month.
The MACC is currently investigating a criminal incident that occurred several years ago involving the suspect’s deceased family member.
The source said the investigation found that the company was suspected of paying bribes to government officials to change the status of Malay reserve land to non-Malay land in Sitiawan.
Hishamuddin said that the suspect’s arrest was carried out under the MACC Act 2009 for bribery.
Previously, a former deputy registrar of titles at the Perak land office was brought to the Ipoh sessions court on charges of deceiving the status of 649.2ha of Malay reserve land in Mukim Sitiawan, Manjung, 12 years ago.
The accused, Rosli Che Mohamed, 64, however, pleaded not guilty and requested a trial after the charges were read out before judge Datuk Ibrahim Osman.
He was accused of deceiving the Perak Agricultural Land Board by misleading it into believing that the land parcels PN 174770-174772, PT 17527-17529, Mukim Sitiawan, Manjung, Perak were not Malay reserve land through a data correction form from the Perak land office dated March 25, 2011.
As a result, the board approved the subdivision of parcels PN 174772 and Lot 17527 into 317 plots, approximately 649.2ha in Mukim Sitiawan, Manjung, to Nadi Agrobusiness Sdn Bhd. – May 28, 2024