By Murray Hunter
FOLLOWING recent controversies about unlicensed foreign management organisations breaking rules and laws in Malaysia, a court in Kajang issued instructions for police to probe another foreign management outfit embroiled in a long list of allegations of selling unaccredited certificates and breaking Malaysian regulations.
On Friday, 3 July 2026, Magistrate Nurul Hafzan Abd Aziz issued an instruction that reports of perjury and abetment of perjury by senior managers at the United Kingdom Chartered Management Institute (CMI) should be referred to the police for a full criminal investigation.
In a statement issued in open Court and recorded in the court minutes, Nurul stated, "The Court has examined the police report and the referred documents. In the Court's view, the complainant's complaint contains allegations which, if true, could indicate the commission of a criminal offence. To determine whether the said offence occurred, further investigation by the police is necessary.”
According to lawyers familiar with the case the ruling means that police are now required to open a probe into the CMI and that an existing criminal investigation for perjury previously instructed by the Court into the CMI Chief Financial Officer, Lucy Greggains should be extended to include criminal investigations for abetting perjury by the CMI Chief Executive Officer, Ann Franke; the CMI Secretary, Elaine McClean; and the Head of International Sales and Engagement Zain Munir as well as two CMI lawyers in Malaysia.
One of the lawyers had withdrawn from representing the CMI following an earlier complaint of malpractice.
Perjury [contrary to s.193 of the Penal Code] and abetting perjury [contrary to s.109 and 193 of the Penal Code] carry a maximum penalty of seven years imprisonment in Malaysia. Perjury is a seizable offence.
The CMI had previously applied for the evidence of perjury, as well as the evidence of witness tampering, to be expunged from the High Court record in a defamation suit against the CMI and three of three its senior managers.
In March last year, Judicial Commissioner Hazizah Kassim refused to strike out the allegations of perjury against Lucy Greggains and allegations of witness tampering against Ann Franke, Elaine McClean and Bob Cryan, a member of the CMI Board of Trustees who is also the Vice Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield.
The judge ruled that the evidence is admissible and relevant to a defamation case against the CMI and the people accused.
The new ruling adds to the defamation case and escalates the criminal investigation against the foreigners who are accused of submitting false evidence to a Malaysian court and conspiring among themselves and with their Malaysian lawyers to do so.
The CMI is a Royal charity in the UK with its patron Princess Sophie being the sister-in-law of the disgraced Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who was stripped of his royal titles following his connections with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The CMI has been subject to ongoing investigations for selling management certificates which are not accredited in Malaysia.
They have faced investigations by the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) and the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA), as well as regulators in the UK who have confirmed that the CMI certificates sold overseas are not accredited by them.
Investigations into the management of the organisation have also revealed mismanagement and financial irregularities, which have been reported to the tax authorities in the UK and Malaysia.
A number of Malaysian universities have recently pulled out of their partnerships with the CMI and stopped advertising their relationship with the organisation following media reports around the world.
The CMI has also issued a SLAPP action (strategic lawsuit against public participation) in the Malaysian courts to try to cover up the allegations and stop them from being reported in the Malaysian media. – July 23, 2026
