He couldn't be called a whistleblower. After all, he conceded that he had committed a crime. Seeking to come clean, he lodged a report to the Anti-Corruption Agency two years ago. But to his surprise, the ACA failed to take action.

Adam Yong Abdullah, a self-professed Muslim convert, has confessed to colluding with senior government officials and a number of others over payment of kickbacks exceeding RM600,000 in 2002 from public funds meant to assist bumiputera entrepreneurs.

Adam - who claimed he was seeking redemption for his wrongdoing - said he had received RM50,000 as his share of 'commission' from the sale of three shoplots at inflated prices to the government.

The shoplots were part of the Malacca's Plaza Melaka Raya, a six-storey shopping complex built in the late 1990s.

Explaining his decision to reveal his role in the kickbacks, Adam, 51, said he had converted to Islam three years ago. He then vowed to come clean and face the consequences.

"Men may seek to close my eyes and ears and mouth, but can man cover up these acts from God Almighty?" he asked rhetorically during an interview.

When told that he could be punished by the law, Adam told malaysiakini that he was willing to bear the consequences of his action.

The plan to rip off the government was simple. The company which Adam worked for sold properties to the government at highly marked-up prices - about twice the market value.

In the process, top government officers and the broker who stitched the deal was handsomely paid for their respective roles. Adam, too, got his share. The government - and taxpayers - ended up losing a few million ringgit.

Half-a-million in kickbacks

Adam alleged that kickbacks of RM607,500 was channelled through a broker, said to be a close associate of a top official of the Entrepreneurial Development and Cooperatives Ministry who had since retired.

The duo were the key figures in the scam, he said.

According to Adam, the price of the three shoplots was marked up by a couple of million to RM4.05 million and sold to the Malacca Development Board under the ministry's programme to purchase shoplots for lease to bumiputera entrepreneurs.

It proved to be an unwise investment decision by the ministry. Today, the shopping complex resembles a ghost town - about 30 percent of the 200 lots had been sold or leased, and only 10 percent of these were occupied.

As for the ministry, only three of the 12 units it had purchased have been leased out to date.

"Unfortunately, (the officials) did not really check if the building has potential to attract crowds. It's a good policy, but a bad buy," said Adam, a father of a eight-year-old boy.

Entrepreneur and Cooperative Development Ministry's plan was to buy the shoplots and lease them out to bumiputera entrepreneurs at low rent to give them a leg up in their business ventures.

There were so few bumiputera takers that the government agency's two shoplots are leased out to non-bumiputeras - an Indian restaurant and a Chinese shop selling religious paraphernalia.

Alleged beneficiaries

According to documents that Adam furnished, the Malacca Development Board, or PKNM, was the official vehicle for the ministry's purchase of shoplots, using funds from the Economic Planning Unit (EPU).

PKNM had initially purchased nine units of the Melaka Raya shopping complex in early 2000. Adam was not involved in that deal as he joined the company in charge of the shopping complex as corporate adviser in October 2001.

The complex management through Adam then offered the government agency to purchase additional units, which PKNM rejected.

However, PKNM changed its mind a few months later. It is believed that a well-connected broker and a senior Entrepreneur and Cooperative Development Ministry official had managed to convince the EPU to buy more lots at the ailing shopping complex.

In February 2002, the top ministry official wrote a letter to EPU seeking approval to purchase three more ground-floor shoplots.

The EPU responded a week later, saying it had "no objections" to the move, and PKNM later completed the transaction.

A tap on the table

Adam alleged that the purchase price was highly inflated - at about double that of the actual value of the three units. This was done in collusion with government valuers who examined the properties. The units were eventually sold for RM4.05 million.

He said that the negotiation on the purchase price - which was held at the Entrepreneurial Development and Cooperatives Ministry on May 23, 2002 - was 'fixed' by key individuals involved in the deal.

Before the meeting, Adam was told by the senior ministry official that the government was willing to go as high as RM4 million for the three lots.

Apart from Adam and the top ministry official, those attending the crucial meeting included members from the valuation team and other senior officials.

During the meeting, the senior official in collusion with Adam would tap the table lightly as the bargaining reached RM4.05 million - it was a signal to Adam that he should accept the deal on behalf of his company.

Adam claimed that a 'commission' of 15 percent was paid to a few people involved in the deal, which include government officials, the valuers, the broker as well as himself.

"It was arranged that 15 percent, or RM607,500, of the total purchase price would go towards 'commissions' - five percent each to the top ministry official and broker, and the balance divided among officials of a number of state government agencies involved in the transaction," he alleged.

Of that, he received RM50,000, which was given in cash.

Conversion to Islam

Adam said he does not know whether the money he received came the broker's share or from the overall amount set aside. He left the company when his contract expired in October 2002.

Following his conversion two years later and a process of soul-searching, he lodged a report with the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) in Malacca in January 2005.

When contacted, the ACA Malacca office confirmed that a report had been lodged and that an investigation was in progress.

Asked why such an open-and-shut case was taking so long to complete, an officer said the head office in Putrajaya had returned the investigation papers with a directive to get more details.

"We had pretty much finished the investigation, but the headquarters deemed that this was incomplete. The investigating officer has gone back to working on the case. It's still going on," he said.

A senior Malacca Development Board official told malaysiakini to submit a written request when contacted for comments. A written request has been sent and so far there is no response.

The broker, when contacted by malaysiakini , declined to comment on the matter. Meanwhile, efforts to reach the other key player in the scam - the retired top ministry official - have been unsuccessful.

Under public scrutiny

The Anti-Corruption Agency, which is tasked to probe allegations of graft, has recently come under intense public scrutiny.

Late last month, an ex-senior ACA official had alleged that the agency's director-general Zulkipli Mat Noor - the country's top anti-graft fighter - was himself corrupt.

Mohamad Ramli Abdul Manan, who is former Sabah ACA chief, had made a number of explosive allegations against Zulkipli - ranging from corruption to sexual assault.

Zulkipli - who has been ACA chief over the past six years - has denied the allegations. A special task force involving the police and the Attorney-General's Chambers has since been set up to probe Ramli's allegations.

In an exclusive interview with malaysiakini , Ramli said that action has not been taken on many ACA investigation due to interference from top government officials.

Click here for 5-minute video on Adam's confession