KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has initiated a probe into the contentious deal involving the takeover of a Telekom Malaysia Bhd’s (TM) subsidiary that manages the Kuala Lumpur Tower.
The Malaysian Insight quoted its chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki as confirming the matter but stopped short of revealing further details on the investigation.
“Yes, MACC has opened investigation papers,” he said, according to the media report.
This follows a viral social media post earlier this week by Twitter user @FreeMsian highlighting the controversial full ownership transfer of the iconic tower by Menara Kuala Lumpur Sdn Bhd (MKLSB) to a firm named Hydroshoppe Sdn Bhd.
The transfer of all of MKLSB’s 10 million shares was recorded to have taken place on October 31, when Tan Sri Annuar Musa was the communications and multimedia minister.
The user had questioned TM’s decision to sell off these shares despite KL Tower making a hefty RM66 million annual revenue and recording RM25 million in net profit in 2019.
He also noted how Hydroshoppe was once close to being struck off by the Companies Commission of Malaysia for not filing its records on a timely basis before it was handed “a new life by TM”.
Speculations have been rife that Annuar might have been involved in the controversial deal considering it took place during his time in federal power.
However, the former Umno stalwart had said on Tuesday that his former ministry or the government had never taken part in any such deal, which he noted only involved a public-listed company, namely TM.
“Nothing to do with the communications minister. Go ask TM… if the company was making RM25 million in profit, why didn’t they want to keep it and sell it off,” he had said.
“TM was not under the communications minister’s purview… it is a public listed company.”
In a separate statement the same day, Communication and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil said he views the issue seriously and is closely monitoring the matter.
He said he had already been given a detailed briefing by his ministry on the concession of KL Tower’s management on December 14 and will meet TM next Tuesday to obtain further details.
“I am made to understand that the KL Tower management’s concession given to MKLSB is currently in its third interim phase until December 31, 2022 (sic).
“The ministry is closely monitoring the issue and is prepared to provide its full cooperation to authorities who are investigating the matter.” – The Vibes, December 29, 2022
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