Port Klang Authority (PKA) chairperson Lee Hwa Beng said the federal police had begun investigations, following his report lodged last Tuesday, against Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) and BTA Architect on the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project.

Kuala Dimensi is the contractor for the PKFZ project while BTA Architect is the project's appointed consultant.

NONE Lee said a team of policemen from the Commercial Crime Department visited PKA and interviewed him at length last Friday and yesterday.

"The police also interviewed some PKA staff members yesterday about noon and today, and I instructed them to give full cooperation," he said during a lunch break of the PKA board meeting at his office today.

Last Tuesday, Lee lodged the report based on the findings of a special task force set up to identify weaknesses in the PKFZ.

It was reported earlier that the PKA board of directors had decided to lodge the police report against KDSB over alleged billing discrepancies ranging from between RM500 million and RM1 billion.

The discrepancies were uncovered by a special task force - comprising lawyers, accountants, quantity surveyors and building cost consultants from professional firms - set up by the transport ministry about two months ago, following an audit report on PKFZ by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

PKA board examines wrongdoings

Meanwhile, in a press statement posted today at PKFZ's website, Lee said PKA board members at the meeting today deliberated at length, the recommendations made by the task force in relation to possible fraud, negligence, wrongdoings and irregularities, as well as the non-enforceability of certain agreements.

"The board also discussed issues raised by the task force in relation to breaches of fiduciary duty by certain individuals, as well as conspiring to defraud PKA," said Lee.

Members of the task force explained to PKA members the rationale behind their findings, which included notices of payments which were believed to be false, erroneous or defective.

"It also included instances of wrongdoings carried out by certain parties which were detrimental to PKA," said Lee.

He said PKA board members decided to take follow-up action on decisions made today and seek further advice on certain issues.

The statement also said that Lee briefed members on his status as PKA chairperson, his duties and responsibilities and that due process was always followed.

- Bernama