Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV) has denied an alleged conspiracy against its president and chief executive officer Zakaria Arshad, who was told to take an immediate leave of absence from the company in June.

This was in response to Special Affairs Department (Jasa) director-general Mohd Puad Zarkashi, who had on Sunday accused the FGV board of conspiring to make Zakaria the "fall guy".

"As a publicly-listed, government-linked company that is operating under several regulatory bodies including the Securities Commission (SC) and Bursa Malaysia, FGV is not involved in any conspiracy or personal agenda in conducting the internal investigation (domestic inquiry) process on Zakaria and three other senior management staff.

"This investigation is considered a fiduciary responsibility of the board in order to discharge its duty of care to the listed company and its shareholders," FGV said in a statement today.

FGV stressed that Zakaria and three other senior management staff members who had been asked to take a leave of absence were still being provided with full pay and benefits.

It pointed out that former minister Idris Jala, who was assigned to independently investigate the decision to suspend the FGV officials, had found sufficient facts and reasonable grounds to initiate disciplinary proceedings against the individuals.

This was with regards to alleged breaches of procedure in FGV's dealings with Dubai-based Safitex Trading LLC.

"The accusation that the FGV board of directors is harbouring a personal agenda to bring down a senior member of management is unwarranted. 

"If these accusations continue, they may derail FGV’s focus on core business improvement plans, value creation and the board’s execution of its fiduciary duties as expected by all stakeholders and shareholders," the company said.

The FGV crisis broke out after the board of directors, led by then FGV chairperson Mohd Isa Abdul Samad, ordered Zakaria to go on leave for allegedly failing to comply with corporate governance rules.

Zakaria later accused the board of directors of trying to make "ridiculous" investment deals, which the board denied.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak subsequently tasked Idris Jala with investigating the tussle, which culminated with Mohd Isa's transfer to the Land Public Transport Commission (Spad) and Zakaria facing disciplinary proceedings.