PETALING JAYA: Two prominent Bersatu members, Wan Saiful Wan Jan and Adam Radlan Adam Muhammad, were charged with corruption this week in relation to the Jana Wibawa programme.
The programme had come under scrutiny after Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim revealed that project costs were too high and had not gone through a tender process.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission opened several investigations to get to the bottom of it.
Here’s what has happened so far.
Timeline
The Jana Wibawa programme was introduced in November 2020 by the Muhyiddin Yassin government as a Covid-19 stimulus initiative to help Bumiputera contractors.
There were 56 projects under the Jana Wibawa programme valued at RM6.3 billion, according to law and institutional reform minister Azalina Othman Said.
Earlier this month, it was also reported that Bersatu received contributions believed to be more than RM300 million from contractors of projects in the Jana Wibawa programme.
Following this revelation, MACC froze Bersatu’s accounts
Bersatu president Muhyiddin, who was prime minister at the time, has denied claims his government had misappropriated RM92.5 billion. He said he was confident MACC would clear him of any wrongdoing.
On Feb 21, Wan Saiful, who is Bersatu’s information chief, was charged at the Kuala Lumpur sessions court with soliciting and accepting RM6.9 million in bribes for a road project under the scheme.
Segambut Bersatu deputy chief Adam Radlan was charged with soliciting and accepting a bribe of RM500,000 to help MIE Infrastructure and Energy Sdn Bhd obtain a letter of agreement for a road construction project in Perlis.
Both Wan Saiful and Adam Radlan pleaded not guilty.
A businessman, Teo Wee Cheng, a director of Pagoh-based SSH Furniture Sdn Bhd, was charged the following day with soliciting and accepting bribes totalling RM12.8 million to help two companies obtain contracts under the Jana Wibawa programme.
Questions have been raised as to why Bumiputera companies that ultimately benefited from the initiative needed Teo’s help to secure the contracts and whether it was a coincidence that his company is based in Muhyiddin’s constituency in Pagoh.
What has happened since?
Wan Saiful has since resigned as Bersatu’s information chief saying his actions show that Perikatan Nasional “walked the talk” when it comes to integrity and combating corruption.
Muhyiddin accepted Wan Saiful’s resignation and maintained the move was not because Wan Saiful was guilty, but to set a standard since court charges were brought against him.
Adam Radlan has been slapped with two more charges of accepting bribes totalling RM4.1 million linked to Jana Wibawa.
Last week, rural and regional development minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that RM5.7 billion worth of Jana Wibawa projects have been temporarily halted, pending a review to determine if the projects followed Treasury procedures.
However, Zahid said the halt would not affect the implementation of projects, particularly flood-related works. -FMT
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