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.