KUALA LUMPUR: A more than six-hour long raid was conducted by the police at the embattled Human Resource Development Fund’s (HRDF) building at Damansara Heights earlier today.
It is believed that several HRDF staff were questioned during the raid which started at 11am this morning. Documents were also seized by the police.
According to a source familiar with the matter, the raid was, among others, in relation to a RM2.2 million claim made by the National Press Club for a study trip to Berlin.
The National Press Club president Datuk Mokhtar Hussain when contacted by SunBiz, said that it has already submitted a written report to HRDF to explain its position on the “matter”.
Meanwhile, the source told theSun that more statements will be recorded next week. This comes on the heel of several allegations of misappropriation of funds and discrepancies by the previous administration.
A recent report by an English daily revealed that a six-floor “landmark skyscraper” was purchased by HRDF for RM154 million without the knowledge of the board of directors and the investment panel.
On Nov 10, Human Resource Minister M. Kulasegaran said that millions of ringgit were misappropriated from the fund meant for the upskilling and reskilling workforce, by the previous administration to buy property and to pay salaries and hefty bonuses for selected employees.
He also added that police reports have been lodged on alleged financial abuse that took place under the previous administration.
In June last year, the minister announced that a five-member independent governance oversight committee was tasked to conduct a thorough review over a period of 100 days.
The decision was made after a heated town hall session which saw training providers roasting the previous administration in the presence of the minister.
Three of HRDF’s board members and former CEO Datuk CM Vignaesvaran Jeyandran resigned after the town hall session.
