A chief executive officer of a state Menteri Besar Incorporated (MBI) and a female company director were detained to assist investigations into alleged corruption and abuse of power in the mining sector, involving bribes exceeding RM13 million.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) was granted a three-day remand order against the duo starting today by Magistrate Wan Shahida Abd Rahim at the Alor Star magistrate's court and Magistrate Norsyakirah Che Hashim at the Shah Alam magistrate's court today.
According to sources, the suspects, aged 63 and 40 respectively, were arrested separately in Alor Star and Kuala Lumpur late yesterday.
The sources claimed the mining activities were carried out illegally by the company which allegedly received protection from certain authorities since 2020.
It was learnt that the company, owned by the female director, was granted approval to carry out timber rubber clone planting for a forest farming project involving two compartments in Kedah in 2016.
The sources said in 2020, the same company submitted an application to the Kedah government to carry out rare earth element (REE) mining activities in the same compartments.
However, the state government has not issued any approval pertaining to the company's application to carry out the mining activity.
Saifuddin claims that MBI knew about the REE theft issue in Sik
Julai 20, 2023 09:30 MYT
Saifuddin claimed that MBI knew about the REE theft issue in Sik
Saifuddin asked Muhammad Sanusi to explain the position of the two Chinese nationals involved, whose Professional Visit Passes show their employer is MBI. - Photo file/AWANI Astro
ALOR SETAR: Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail claimed that the Kedah Chief Minister's Corporation (MBI) knew about the theft of rare earth elements (REE) in the Bukit Enggang area, Sik, Kedah.
Saiffudin said that the Chief Minister of Kedah, Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor denied that MBI was involved or had anything to do with mineral theft when the issue was raised in the State Legislative Assembly (DUN).
However, he said, MBI should have known about the matter since it was the corporation that hired a group of Chinese workers to explore in the area.
"Tonight, I want to say that MBI knows exactly in their compartment or area is the place where massive REE theft happened and it is within their knowledge. At least there have been two phases of arrests. The first, more than 50 people (at) the beginning of the year.
"Who arrested? The Department of Forestry, the Department of Minerals and even the Department of Immigration arrested. The arrest took place and was later investigated and I am still gathering evidence. The person arrested was not accused of stealing, but trespassing into the forest reserve," he said.
Saifuddin said this while speaking at the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) Suka Menanti Civic Tour, at the Taman Wira Mergong Public Field here on Wednesday night.
Saifuddin claimed that Muhammad Sanusi had previously written a letter to the Minister of Home Affairs, Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin to request 10 engineers and 21 skilled workers from China to be brought into the country, but a letter from the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MBI said that the 21 who wanted to be brought in were general workers.
In that regard, Saifuddin also questioned the entry of general workers involved, given that some of them were brought in using permits for health treatment and asked Muhammad Sanusi to reveal the hospital that provided treatment to the parties involved.
"When I saw (the letter) there were two very dubious names. From China, he is a consultant (but) he is also a consultant to this REE project," he said.
Following that, Saifuddin asked Muhammad Sanusi to explain the position of the two Chinese nationals involved, whose Professional Visit Passes showed their employer was MBI and were employed by the corporation as professional experts to study REE sites in the area.
"What are these people's expertise? How long have they contracted to work with MBI? How much does MBI pay? What are their job duties and job descriptions? What are their responsibilities? Because one of them is the person who was caught trespassing on the forest reserve," he claimed.
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