Six arrested by MACC over Ijok land deal

The MACC arrested six people today, including a "datuk" in connection with the Ijok land deal in Selangor.

According to MACC chief commissioner Dzulkifli Ahmad, the suspects were detained in Petaling Jaya and MACC headquarters in Putrajaya between 12.45pm and 4pm. 

"Among those arrested were a father and son.

"MACC's investigation is focused on the payout of about RM200 million to five companies involved in the transaction. Each company is believed to have received RM68 million, RM62 million, RM42 million, RM16.5 million and RM8.5 million," Dzulkifli told a press conference after a walkabout in Malacca this evening.

The suspects’ ages ranged between 34 and 84.

According to Dzulkifli, MACC also seized documents from three of the companies involved in the transaction in order to facilitate investigations.

"MACC is now looking for a company director with the title 'datuk', who we believe is in a neighbouring country.

"The commission has also frozen nine personal and company bank accounts belonging to the suspects, with RM39 million in it, pending a probe," he said.

The land was given to settlers more than two decades ago. In 1998, two companies – LBCN Development Sdn Bhd and Mujur Zaman Sdn Bhd – were roped in to develop the land for the settlers.

The companies, however, could not deliver what was promised, and in 2009, former state menteri besar Khalid Ibrahim seized the land from the developers.

This resulted in the companies filing a suit at the courts, but two verdicts at the High Court and the Court of Appeal sided with the state government.

An appeal was subsequently filed in the Federal Court.

However, when current Menteri Besar Azmin Ali took over the reins in 2016, he filed a settlement agreement at the apex court and returned the said plot to the developers, which was then sold to a third-party company for RM1.18 billion.

A compensation of RM180,000 and houses worth about RM400,000 each was then given to the 981 settlers.

BN has since taken issue with the transaction, asking why the compensation paid out was just a fraction of the land sale value, and why the matter was settled before undergoing the due legal process in the Federal Court. -Mkini