KUALA LUMPUR, June 8 — Malaysian investigators spent nearly eight hours at the headquarters of Felda Global Ventures Holdings (FGV) today, collecting documents and interviewing company officials following allegations of corruption and abuse of power at the world’s third-largest palm oil operator.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is looking into several officials at FGV, following the suspension of the firm’s chief executive officer, chief financial officer and two other executives earlier this week.

An FGV source said MACC investigators visited various offices in the building, including the legal, finance, procurement and supplier departments, but was not able to provide details on which company officials were interviewed.

The investigators declined to comment on their way out of the building.

An MACC spokesman had said earlier today that the agency was at FGV’s offices in Kuala Lumpur "to collect supporting documents” following a meeting with FGV Chief Executive Datuk Zakaria Arshad yesterday.

The investigators could seize laptops and computers as well, he said, declining to give details on what was discussed with Zakaria.

The FGV crisis unfolded on Tuesday when a letter was leaked from Zakaria to Chairman Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad in which he refused to step down as instructed by the chairman.

FGV’s board then suspended Zakaria and three others. The CEO has denied wrongdoing and called on MACC to conduct its own investigation into FGV, but did not provide any details.

Speaking to reporters today, Isa said he was willing to meet the anti-corruption investigators if asked. He added that FGV was continuing its own investigation into transactions at a subsidiary that led to the suspensions of the FGV executives.

The FGV board has said a deal with Dubai-based palm oil buyer Safitex was at the heart of the company’s internal investigation and Safitex owes an FGV unit about US$11.7 million as of 2016.

Isa was a former chief minister of Negri Sembilan state and a former vice-president ofMalaysia’s ruling party, the United Malays National Organisation.

Prime minister steps in

Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s office stepped into the boardroom spat yesterday, asking a former cabinet minister to look into the suspension of FGV’s top executives.

Turmoil at FGV — whose biggest shareholder is the state-owned Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) — could hurt Najib, who government sources say is expected to call elections later this year. FGV’s shareholders, many of them small landowners, form a key vote bank for Najib’s ruling alliance in battleground states.

Felda "settlers”, or land owners, are the majority voters in at least 54 of the 222 seats in the parliament. They own shares in FGV, which raised over US$3 billion in one of the world’s biggest listings of 2012.

The shares have dropped 70 per cent since that stock market launch, hurting settlers. They have also complained about delayed payments from Felda, which buys the palm fruit the settlers produce in their land.

FGV’s shares fell 0.6 per cent today to RM1.65 per share, valuing the company at RM5.91 billion (US$1.39 billion). The shares have lost about 6 per cent of their value since Tuesday’s suspension of the top executives. — Reuters