Tourism Minister Azalina Othman told Parliament today that internal auditors have been appointed to probe allegations of corrupt practice in Pempena Sdn Bhd, a tourism development company.

wee choo keong Responding to Wee Choo Keong (PKR-Wangsa Maju), she said the firm has been told to thoroughly investigate various allegations reported in Malaysiakini on July 2.

The allegations were made in a memorandum and included claims of graft, irregularities and criminal breach of trust by senior officials in the company, a subsidiary of Tourism Malaysia.

In the document, a copy of which was sent to Azalina, several employees had related a series of decisions by the duo that allegedly diverted millions of ringgit in tourism-development funds into private pockets.

azalina othman 02 Today, Azalina addressed the matter although speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia advised that she need not respond to the question since the news report “has yet to be validated”.

“The news report highlighted some irregularities. I have instructed internal auditors to investigate. If there are irregularities, we will address them,” responded Azalina.

She added that the firm will also conduct a review to study previous decisions of the company’s board of directors.

Answer 'not satisfactory'

Asked to comment, Wee said he was not satisfied with the minister’s answer.

“The memo was sent on March 24 and the ministry has had time to investigate the matter. She should have informed the board of directors sooner and they should have lodged a report with the Anti-Corruption Agency and police earlier,” he said.

He also said the matter should have been resolved by now as Pempena is an important arm of Tourism Malaysia.

“I will keep bringing up the matter until we squeeze the answer out of them. I won't give up,” he added.

Pempena employees claimed that the two senior officials had:

  • pocketed commissions when refinancing luxury vehicles for a high-end tourist taxi service;

  • approved several contracts to RM2 companies supplying services for tourism-based projects;

  • over-stated the cost of creating an e-tourism portal by about RM5 million; and

  • bypassed Pempena board of directors in ‘investing’ in a restaurant project in Melbourne.

One of the persons implicated, financial controller Lim Khing Tai has denied the allegations, claiming that he is a victim of racism “in a Malay-dominated government-linked company”.