KL minister charged with graft
KL minister charged with graft
Agencies, Kuala Lumpur
A Malaysian minister pleaded not guilty on Thursday to corruption charges after he was taken into custody in the most high-profile arrest since Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi took office on a clean government ticket.
Lands and Cooperative Development Minister Kasitah Gaddam was whisked to court under heavy police escort within hours of his arrest and charged with corruption over multi-million dollar share transactions dating back to 1996.
Kasitah, 56, wearing a grey suit and smiling at reporters, pleaded not guilty to the charges at the Kuala Lumpur sessions court and was granted bail of one million ringgit (US$263,000). He was ordered to surrender his passport.
A senior government official told AFP Kasitah, the first Malaysian minister arrested in office, "is likely to be asked to tender his resignation". He faces imprisonment for up to 19 years if found guilty.
The move against Kasitah was the second high-profile arrest this week over alleged corruption during the period when retired prime minister Mahathir Mohamad was in power.
The former head of troubled steel giant Perwaja, Eric Chia, was charged on Tuesday with embezzling 76.4 million ringgit ($20.1 million), eight years after an investigation was launched into Malaysia's biggest financial scandal.
Malaysian shares closed up nearly 1 percent on the news, but speculation there would be more arrests unsettled the market.
"It's good what the authorities are doing, but at the same time it is prompting speculation of who will be next. This is making the market a bit uneasy," said one institutional dealer.
Abdullah, who took office in October, has portrayed himself as a new broom sweeping through Malaysia, ordering a crackdown on red tape and corruption in business, the government and the police.
On a visit to Johor state, Abdullah told reporters he had yet to decide on Kasitah's future in the government."I would have to think what to do about it," he said.
Kasitah's high-profile arrest comes with a general election likely within months or even weeks.
Although Abdullah's multiracial coalition is expected to win a landslide, his key test will be to win back majority Malays, particularly those in rural areas where opposition taunts of government corruption have hit home.
According to the charges filed against him, Kasitah abused his post as chairman of the Sabah Land Development Board (SLDB) in the eastern Borneo state for financial gain.
Authorities accused him of taking part in a 1996 decision to sell 16.8 million shares held by SLDB in Sapi Plantations Sdn. Bhd. on the promise of 3.36 million Sapi shares for himself.
They also charged him with deceiving fellow board members over PPB Oil Palms Sdn. Bhd.'s plans to offer five shares for each Sapi share as part of its listing on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange.
Sapi is part of PPB Oil Palms, which in turn is 54 percent owned by diversified PPB Group Bhd. PPB is controlled by Malaysian-born, Hong Kong-based tycoon Robert Kuok.
Kasitah's arrest was related to deals valued at 30-40 million ringgit ($7.9 million-$10.5 million), Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) deputy chief Zawawi Nordin was quoted by Bernama news agency as saying.