SNAPSHOT | Anwar to visit Sandakan fire victims; NGO leader nabbed over RM230m zakat funds case

KINI SNAPSHOT | What’s going on in the news today, with updates at 9am, 2pm, 6pm, and 9pm.

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9am

Sabah fire

• Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim will be in Sabah today to visit the site of a major fire in Kampung Bahagia, Sandakan, which destroyed 1,000 homes on Sunday.

  He is expected to arrive in the late afternoon and will visit three evacuation centres where victims who lost their homes have been relocated.

  He is likely to announce some form of federal aid during the visit.

Corruption

• UPDATED 5.20PM | Amended with MACC chief’s clarification that the funds were donations.

  The MACC reportedly arrested the deputy chairperson of an NGO and two other individuals over alleged misappropriation of RM230 million in donations.

  Scoop reported that two of the suspects were detained in an operation in the Klang Valley yesterday, while the third person was taken into custody when he arrived at the Selangor MACC office to provide his statement.

  The anti-graft agency also seized 18 vehicles, including a Porsche, Mercedes, and Range Rover, and a number of properties, which were estimated to be worth RM11 million, and froze 33 bank accounts containing some RM120 million.

  MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki, in a statement today, said preliminary investigation revealed that some RM230 million donated by various parties through the NGO had not reached their targets, but instead was allegedly misappropriated for personal use.

  Investigation so far showed that the case does not involve funds from any zakat institution, he clarified.

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