KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 — State investment firm Khazanah Nasional Berhad denied today claims its executives had acted illegally in their late declarations of credit card expenses exceeding RM1.2 million, stating that it was a purely administrative issue.

The state investment firm said some employees were merely late in submitting documents on work expenses within two months of incurring the expenses, and stressed that the issue “does not involve false or improper expenses” as alleged.

“In no instance was there any incidence of false claims or improper and unauthorised expenses,” said Khazanah in a statement today.

“It is to be noted that Khazanah imposes a salary deduction by the third month for any further delay, and the deductions are regularised upon submission of the necessary documentation,” it added.

DAP’s Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng said last Saturday that the police should investigate the over RM1.2 million in unpaid American Express (Amex) charges racked up by Khazanah executives, as highlighted in the Auditor-General’s (A-G) Report 2012.

Lim urged the police to check for elements of “cheating, bribery, misappropriation and other crimes”, and to make immediate arrests if such elements were found.

“In light of the above, we view with concern the insinuation and suggestion of unlawful or criminal conduct by our staff, attributed by the Member of Parliament for Segambut in his comments as quoted in media reports,” said Khazanah in response.

“In this regard, we hope this clarification will put to rest these concerns, and we would further add that we will not hesitate to take the necessary steps so as to protect our interests at all times,” added the government-linked corporation (GLC).

In the A-G’s report, it was found that Khazanah issued Amex corporate charge cards with no spending limits to 106 of its senior executives. Their usage requires cardholders to provide a monthly spending analysis to verify all charges and provide accompanying receipts for approval.

But the auditors discovered that some of Khazanah’s cardholders did not comply with the requirement, resulting in the RM1.26 million being recorded as “unpaid”.

Khazanah pointed out today that the A-G’s report had concluded that Khazanah’s financial performance from 2009 to 2012 was good, and that the management of its investment and divestment activities were systematic.

“Khazanah views positively both the genuine concerns of the public and the various oversight measures placed on us, including the National Audit Department’s periodic audits, as a positive check and balance to strengthen our systems and performance,” said Khazanah.