Idris Jala to oversee decision to suspend top FGV execs

PETALING JAYA: The government has appointed Datuk Seri Idris Jala to oversee the recent decision by the board of Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV) to suspend its group president and CEO Datuk Zakaria Arshad, CFO Ahmad Tifli Mohd Talha and two other senior members of the management team.
In a statement by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) today, it said the appointment of Idris was agreed by all relevant parties following initial consultation with them.
"Those consulted included Felda chairman Tan Sri Shahrir Abdul Samad, the single biggest shareholder of FGV, FGV chairman Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad, Zakaria and Ahmad Tifli," it added.
A boardroom tussle at FGV has resulted in its CEO and CFO being forced to take leave of absence while investigations are conducted on alleged discrepancies which involved "many millions of ringgit".
Mohd Isa said letters for leave of absence were issued to Zakaria and Tifli on Tuesday morning.
Zakaria was asked to go on a leave of absence to enable the company's internal auditing team to further probe alleged wrongdoing involving several million ringgit from Delima Oil-Safitex, a company in Afghanistan but based in Dubai, UAE.
FGV Trading CEO Ahmad Salman Omar and Delima Oil Products Sdn Bhd (DOP) senior general manager Kamarzaman Abd Karim were also forced to take leave of absence.
Zakaria had told theSun that while he accepted his order to go on leave, the action was unfair and that he was a "victim of circumstances".
He had also revealed that he did not agree to a number of investments that FGV had planned for.
However, Mohd Isa maintained that the decision to suspend Zakaria was done by FGV's board members.