Ex-MAS shareholder faces charges
Ex-MAS shareholder faces charges
Associated Press, Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia's debt-ridden national airline has confirmed lodging a police report against former top officials over alleged management irregularities.
The report amounts to the first step in a legal process leading to investigation by police and is the latest in a series of controversies bedeviling Malaysia Airline System, or MAS.
Airline officials issued a statement late Monday confirming a story in the Asian Wall Street Journal newspaper that a report had been filed, but said details would not be disclosed because it was "a police matter."
The newspaper cited MAS Chairman Azizan Zainal Abidin as saying that the report accused Tajudin Ramli, the former controlling shareholder, and three other officials of management irregularities.
The complaint focused in particular on several transactions involving the airline's cargo division, Azizan was cited a saying.
Maizan Shaari, director of the Federal Police Commercial Crimes Division, was cited by the New Straits Times newspaper as saying that a dozen people had been questioned, including senior officials.
"We have not questioned Tajudin, but we will eventually call him for an interview to help our investigation," Maizan was quoted as saying.
The investigation is another blow to Tajudin, a tycoon who was the airline's chairman from 1994 until early 2001, when he sold his 29 percent stake in the airline back to the government.
The 1.79 billion ringgit (US$471 million) Tajudin received was based on the same share price he had originally paid, but was more than double the market value of the shares at the time he sold.
The sale triggered accusations that the government was bailing out a well-connected businessman and damaged Malaysia's image with investors.
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has tried to restore Malaysia's credibility, shaking up some heavily indebted companies after taking up the finance portfolio last June following the resignation of Daim Zainuddin as finance minister.