Citizen Nades - Hold the directors responsible

THE photograph of Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin handing over a thumb drive at the headquarters of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission appeared in almost all newspapers on Saturday. More than a year ago, its then Strategic Communications director Datuk Rohaizad Yaakob met an "opposition delegation" under the same circumstances. He was immediately transferred to the PM's Department. (The order was subsequently rescinded following threats by the MACC that they would file charges for "obstructing an officer in the course of carrying out his duties".)
For the record both parties came to the MACC with something important – documents purportedly containing information related to corruption or corrupt practices.
Irrespective of your status, the MACC receives and analyses information or complaints it receives. Most of the time, it is mere hearsay without substantiation but nevertheless, the complainant is informed of the outcome.
That is why many Malaysians are clamouring to ask if there is some sort of hierarchy when it comes to investigating, arresting and prosecuting alleged wrongdoers.
In March last year, theSun and an Australian newspaper, The Age, jointly broke the story of how Mara Incorporated Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mara Holdings overpaid for two buildings and millions of ringgit in kickbacks were pocketed by certain officials.
The documents that had been gathered in the course of our investigations were handed to the MACC. A copy was also given to Mara's integrity head, an officer seconded from MACC. There was solid evidence – details of purchases and payments; company accounts; details of the Virgin Islands-based companies used in the transactions; the names and identities of those involved and even the numbers of bank accounts through which the ill-gotten gains were laundered.
In March this year, amid the glare of TV cameras and flashlights, two titled directors were detained for questioning. To date, the silence has been deafening. In the meantime Mara Inc stands to lose RM88 million after putting up the buildings for sale.
Why the re-cap, one may ask. Last week, half a dozen Bank Rakyat officials including the chairman and the managing director were detained – once again and their remand orders were extended. Well done. The arrests of these people in high places may look good in the eyes of the public, but what follows after this whole epic drama? Is someone going to be charged, or like the Mara Inc case, stamped NFA (No Further Action) and filed in a steel cabinet for posterity?
The role, duties and obligations of directors are listed in the Companies Act; notable among them is that they are to "act as ordinary men of business".
Let me declare my interests before I am accused of having an agenda. In 2011, while serving as theSun's correspondent in London, I wrote to Pempena Sdn Bhd, to appoint me as a director of the Awana Chelsea Restaurant which was incurring losses running into millions of ringgit.
I wrote: "I am willing to once again, in the interest of the country, offer my services, not to manage the restaurant, but to safeguard the government's investments and see how the bleeding of the restaurant can be stopped. Let me assure you that I don't want a sen or penny, and not even a free meal at the restaurant. I will be the majority shareholders' eyes and ears. That's all."
My offer was spurned by the board and that of Tourism Malaysia for reasons better known to them. The restaurant was subsequently sold with another RM15 million down the drain. The cases of Mara Inc, Bank Rakyat, Tourism Malaysia, Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) and others are standing monuments illustrating the incompetence of those in power in choosing the right person for the job.
A cursory glance at the boards of government-linked companies (GLCs) will reveal that there are several square pegs in round holes and men in stuffed shirts. It would be wrong to single out anyone but for example, a battle-scarred war veteran may not be the right person, say in an oil and gas company.
We have not learnt the lessons of the PKFZ where government-appointed directors of the Port Klang Authority (PKA) allowed the cost to balloon. Attempts to cite them under the Act were outvoted by the old guard. What were they doing under the chairmanship of their predecessors including two former ministers? That is why there is a need to re-examine the appointment of board members of GLCs.
In some instances, the MACC is helpless because there is insufficient evidence to support a conviction. But surely, if GLCs feel members of the board were derelict in their duties, the law must take its course under the provisions in the Act. Sitting back and saying "they have been cleared by the MACC" does not necessarily mean that they have not committed an offence and neither is it a clean bill of health.
There must be concerted and intensive efforts by the government to appoint the right persons to safeguard the people's money. The old habit of appointing friends, cronies and "orang seperti abang-adik" are over. Many of them have proved to the cause of the many millions which have disappeared and are unaccounted for.
But as usual, nobody expects any change. For political expediency and emergency funding, such friends in high places can prove useful at any time of the day.
R. Nadeswaran is editor (special and investigative reporting) at theSun. Comments: citizen-nades@thesundaily.com