Felda Global Ventures (FGV) CEO Zakaria Arshad has appointed top lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah to advise him in facing the domestic inquiry set up by the company.

"I am confident I will be proven innocent, and have appointed Muhammad Shafee as my legal counsel to handle this (accusation of wrongdoing)," Berita Harian reported him as saying in a statement today.

He also welcomed the appointment of former Telekom chairperson Sulaiman Mahbob as acting FGV chairperson, following the resignation of Isa Samad.

Isa was immediately appointed the Land Public Transport Commission (Spad) chairperson, succeeding from Syed Hamid Albar who recently retired.

Isa had accused Zakaria of misconduct and formed an internal probe against him after Zakaria refused to resign.

Zakaria is accused of misconduct in handling dealings between FGV subsidiary Delima Oil Sdn Bhd and Safitex.

FGV board of directors instructed Zakaria and three others were told to go on leave pending the outcome of the probe.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission is also investigating FGV, having raided its offices and seized documents earlier this month.