The Penang Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) is prepared to investigate the alleged land scams in the state, if it receives credible information that warrants this.

New state director Latifah Md Yatim, 51, hinted at this today, although she declined to confirm or deny that the agency had earlier initiated a probe.

The multi-million ringgit land scams allegedly took place during the tenure of the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) administration in Penang.

lim guan eng and penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng had claimed that tens of millions of ringgit of public funds had been siphoned off and that this has “rocked the state government’s financial strength to its core”.

Since taking over the state government after the March general election, the DAP-led Pakatan Rakyat administration has set up a three-member investigative team because it was dissatisfied with a probe reportedly conducted by the ACA.

Latifah, who took over duties from Nooraziah Abd Manaf today, would only say that the ACA would probe any information on corruption received from various sources, including poison pen letters, anonymous complaints and media reports.

latifah md yatim penang aca chief probe landscam 031108 03 “If our initial probe proves that the information received is credible, than we will carry out a thorough investigation,” she said.

She declined comment when asked if allegations of land improprieties that were disclosed in the Auditor-General’s Report 2007 - and released in August - would be investigated.

It outlined 11 botched land deals amounting to about RM38 million during the tenure of former chief minister Koh Tsu Koon.

This included a case where a plot of a church land - valued RM32.8 million - was allegedly misappropriated through the use of a false court order, and transferred to an unnamed individual.

The report also exposed examples of documentation fraud, including falsification of court orders, grants of probate, land title registrations, signatures and beneficiaries’ letters of authority.

"The falsifications and subsequent land deals were all carried out without the knowledge of legitimate landowners," said the report.

Much of the information was drawn from findings of an internal investigation by the Land and Mines Office. The report lent credibility to the current state government’s complaints about its predecessor.

hilmi yahya 00 At the last state legislative assembly sitting, Teluk Bahang assemblyperson Hilmi Yahya apologised for his error in a land deal in central Seberang Perai while he was deputy chief minister and was also in charge of overseeing the land portfolio from 1999-2004.

Hilmi’s ‘error’ has been estimated to cost the state at least RM40 million in compensation.

‘Don’t just complain’

The Penang ACA arrested 26 people, including 10 government officers, and investigated 361 cases in 2007.

aca anti corruption agency and money and investigate To date this year, it has arrested 23 people, including 18 government officers, and probed 362 cases.

In the first 10 months of the year, the agency received 775 reports of alleged graft, a 35.5 percent increase compared to 572 last year.

Of the information received, 413 reports were deemed credible this year compared with 211 last year, a leap of 95.7 percent.

ACA deputy director II Zakaria Jaffar called on the public to cooperate with the agency to tackle graft “instead of complaining about ACA”.