Enough grounds for disciplinary proceedings against FGV CEO, senior management

PETALING JAYA: There are sufficient facts and grounds for the Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV) board to initiate disciplinary proceedings against its chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Zakaria Arshad and three other senior management officials.
This is one of four key findings in the independent report by former Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Idris Jala, who was on June 7 appointed as an independent party to establish the facts of the case and recommend the way forward.
In a statement by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) today, it said that the government and FGV, in accepting the key findings, agreed that FGV continue with its ongoing disciplinary proceedings.
"There are sufficient facts and reasonable grounds warranting the FGV board to initiate disciplinary proceedings against its CEO, chief financial officer (Ahmad Tifli Mohd Talha) and two other senior management officials in relation to alleged breach of procedures in Delima Oil Products Sdn Bhd (DOP), a subsidiary of FGV.
"It should be highlighted that no one is guilty of any wrongdoing at this juncture unless proven by the impending domestic inquiries," it said.
The statement added that the four officials (which included DOP's senior general manager Kamarzaman Abd Karim and FGV Trading CEO Ahmad Salman Omar) would be able to defend themselves in line with the laws during the domestic inquiries.
The four senior FGV officials were, on June 6, ordered to take leave of absence by group chairman Tan Sri Isa Samad after it was discovered there were alleged discrepancies in the dealings between DOP and Dubai-based Safitex.
The PMO statement added that the DOP case highlights the immediate need for FGV to radically improve its corporate governance and business controls at the group and subsidiary levels.
"It is recommended that FGV sets up a "governance quantum leap" team to ensure that this (improvement) happens as a matter of urgency.
"Instead of making incremental improvements, with the help of this team, FGV should in the first instance, identify best practices, policies and procedures within or outside the industry and thereafter, adopt these for FGV," it said.
The PMO statement also stated that the government has decided to appoint Isa as Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) acting chariman, while Tan Sri Sulaiman Mahbob be instated as FGV's acting chairman.
It said that these appointments were made to uphold the integrity, spirit of impartiality of the ongoing inquiry and ensuring proper corporate governance of FGV and DOP.
"Apart from undertaking the normal roles and responsibilities of the chairman, Sulaiman will immediately take action to oversee the implementation of the above way forward," it said.
Aside from that, the statement said the decline in the financial performance of FGV and Felda in the last few years warrants a comprehensive business review, in which upon completion, would put in place the right platform that would better position FGV and Felda.
It added that independent report by Idris and the decisions made by the government and FGV on the way forward is separate from the ongoing investigation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
"Their (MACC) investigation is still underway and the outcome will be revealed by them only after they have completed their work," it said.
Meanwhile, MACC deputy chief commissioner (operations) Datuk Azam Baki said former FGV chairman Tan Sri Isa Samad who is among the main witnesses in the investigations will be called in to have his statement recorded this week.
He said over 50 people have been questioned to date since the probe on FGV commenced about two weeks ago.
It is learnt that investigators hope to conclude the probe by the end of this month and file in their findings to the Attorney-General's Chambers for action.