OFFICIALS who were involved in making contract decisions in relation to the company that supplied and managed government vehicles, Spanco Sdn Bhd (Spanco), since its operations in the 1990s will be called to assist in an investigation undertaken by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
The agency's chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki said that this will include the prime minister and finance minister who were in office at the relevant time.
According to him, the testimonies of all those involved is necessary to complete the investigation on the issue.
“We will call whoever made the decision at that time in giving the project to Spanco,” he said.
“We are looking at the history of the establishment of the company in 1998 or 1999. Anyone who was involved at that time, including the prime minister and the finance minister, will be called in to have their statements recorded and to find out what they know about the matter.”
He said this at a press conference after an anti-corruption programme for Sarawak's media practitioners in Kuching today.
Azam said that thus far no prosecution has been made yet because his team is in the early stages of the investigation and the investigating officer is still examining the facts of the case.
“This issue was reported to the MACC after there was a dispute over the cancellation of the contract of one company and Spanco got the contract from then until now. That is the focus of the investigation now.
“We have summoned more than 20 individuals and have also frozen about 80 accounts of companies and individuals related to the case,” he said.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had raised this issue during the assembly for staff members of the Prime Minister’s Department in Putrajaya yesterday. He reportedly cited the Spanco case, which involved procurement and management of the government’s fleet of vehicles worth RM4.5 billion.
“All of you were involved in the use of Spanco facilities, and my stance on it has been firm since I became the finance minister.
“So, investigate, I don’t know where the fault lies, but I know the regulations are not right, I know it harms the country, I know it doesn’t please civil servants, but we were helpless, unable to do anything because there was no political will and determination to act,” he was quoted as saying by Bernama.
Since 1993, Spanco had been the sole company holding the concession to supply and maintain government vehicles.
However, when the contract ended in 2019, an open tender was launched for the next contract award. Berjaya Group and Naza formed a consortium and obtained the contract through a letter of intent (LOI) that year. However, the LOI was terminated in 2020, and the tender was instead awarded to Spanco.
In July last year, Berjaya founder Tan Sri Vincent Tan filed a suit against the Finance Ministry and Spanco regarding the terminated LOI, alleging that the contract was awarded to Spanco even though the company’s offered price was higher.
This prompted the MACC to open an investigation into the issue. – The Vibes, February 6, 2024.
