Three men who were remanded in connection with the misappropriation of rural project funds for Sabah involving RM180 million were freed by the magistrate's court here today.

The trio, who are leaders of two respective political parties were initially remanded for five days and a further three days by the court on the application of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

Two were released on a RM30,000 deposited bail of RM50,000 with two sureties, while one was released on an undeposited bail of RM20,000 with two sureties.

They were among eight people detained by MACC in its investigation into the misappropriation of RM180 million out of RM1.5 billion channelled to a certain ministry.

The RM1.5 billion was part of a RM7.5 billion allocation for rural development projects in Sabah between 2009 and 2015.

- Bernama