Former minister Idris Jala, who has been tasked with scrutising the Felda Global Ventures Holdings (FGV) crisis, visited the Federal Land Authority (Felda) headquarters in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon.

He arrived at the building, accompanied by policemen, when more than 20 officers from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) were at the Felda office to retrieve documents related to their probe on FGV.

“I'm trying to get the facts. While I'm doing that, I don't want to make any statement because that would be very prejudicial,” Idris told reporters as he left about an hour later.

In a brief statement issued later, Idris said: “Currently, I am totally focused on the work at hand to establish the relevant facts of the case. While I understand both the media and public’s interest for further details, it is premature for me to make any statements at this juncture.”

Yesterday, the Prime Minister's Office announced Idris' appointment as an independent party to look into the issues plaguing FGV.

The PMO said the former minister would establish the facts and recommend the way forward following the FGV board's decision to suspend its chief executive officer Zakaria Arshad, chief financial officer and two other senior members of the management team.

The PMO also confirmed that the relevant parties had agreed to Idris’ appointment.

Those consulted were Felda chairperson Shahrir Samad, FGV chairperson Isa Samad, Zakaria and FGV chief financial officer Ahmad Tifli Mohd Talha.

On Tuesday, Zakaria and three other FGV offirces were forced to take an indefinite leave of absence, which Isa said was the unanimous decision by the board.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the company stated that the leave of absence was pending an investigation of certain transactions by Delima Oil Products Sdn Bhd.

However, Zakaria, in a letter dated Monday, argued that the payment process was approved and implemented by the previous chief executive officer.

The FGV CEO also claimed that he had tried to stop hundreds of millions in investments by the company's board which he described as “ridiculous”.

The MACC had recorded Zakaria's statement yesterday.

Meanwhile, Isa has dismissed the need for him to resign, arguing that he has not committed any wrongdoing.

He was responding to Umno supreme council member Mohd Puad Zakarshi's call for both Isa and Zakaria to resign over the current crisis.