Govt car fleet probe: MACC freezes tycoon's bank accounts

 

MACC has frozen the bank accounts of a tycoon, said to hold tens of millions of ringgit.

This is part of the graftbuster's probe into a concession to provide and service the government's fleet of vehicles.

Berita Harian cited MACC investigations director Hishamuddin Hashim as confirming the matter.

Two weeks ago, the MACC raided the businessperson's home and offices during which documents on over 100 private and corporate accounts were seized, among others.

Citing a source, Berita Harian said the MACC had analysed the accounts and saw a trend of money being transferred to certain individuals.

This led to the accounts being frozen.

From 1993, a single company - Spanco Sdn Bhd - had held the concession to procure and maintain the government's fleet of vehicles.

But when the contract expired in 2019, an open tender was launched to award the next contract.

LOI termination

Berjaya Group and Naza Sdn Bhd formed a concession and bagged the contract through a letter of intent (LOI) that year.

However, the LOI was terminated in 2020 and the tender was awarded to Spanco.

In July last year, Berjaya founder Vincent Tan filed a lawsuit against the Finance Ministry and Spanco over the terminated LOI.

Tan alleged that the Spanco award was also highly inflated.

Tan's allegations prompted calls for the MACC to launch an investigation.

However, there had been no developments on the probe until the raid was carried out yesterday.

The timing of the probe coincides with the MACC investigating former finance minister Daim Zainuddin, former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad and their families.

The tycoon implicated in the fleet probe is said to be Daim’s close associate. - Mkini