The Inland Revenue Board (IRB) has denied conducting a “gangster-like” raid at a private college in Kuala Lumpur last year.

In a statement issued through Bernama this evening, IRB director-general Sabin Samitah said preliminary checks on the matter showed the raid was carried out in a professional manner in line with the Income Tax Act 1967.

He was responding to a Malaysiakini report yesterday where the college's spokesperson Matim Md Mahmudul accused the raiding team of threatening a lecturer, locking up students as well as attempting to coerce a domestic worker into admitting having an affair with the college's owner.

Suspecting that a former BN minister was involved in the March 2018 raid, the spokesperson also expressed frustration over the slow pace of investigations into their complaints and urged Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng to intervene.

Meanwhile, Sabin clarified that “surprise visits” (lawatan mengejut) as mentioned in the Malaysiakini article were stopped with immediate effect from May 2018 after Pakatan Harapan came into power.

“Referring to the investigation operation as reported by the portal, similar to other investigations, the action was taken after considering all the information and intelligence evidence obtained and analysed in relation to the particular taxpayer.

“Investigations revealed the taxpayer and his company had failed to declare their income from the business... which involved a colossal sum,” he added.

However, Sabin said IRB is bound by Section 138 of the Income Tax Act and therefore cannot reveal details pertaining to the case to third parties.

“IRB is studying the serious allegations and will not hesitate to take legal action against those who wish to tarnish the image and reputation of the agency by making false claims,” he added.

Matim, recalling what he described as a "gangster-like raid", claimed an IRB official threatened to shoot a lecturer.

He said students were also "locked for hours" in a room.

"As a result of the raid, our college incurred losses in the millions of ringgit because new enrollment of students was affected by 90 percent," he had said.