MELAKA, July 4 — Agriculture, Entrepreneurial Development and Agro-Based Industry Committee chairman Norhizam Hassan Baktee has lodged a police report against the former CEO of Melaka Biotechnology Corporation (PBM), a state-owned subsidiary.

Norizam claimed there were financial irregularities and abuse of power by PBM’s former CEO from 2015 until his contract ended on May 31, in the report made at the Air Keroh Police Station yesterday.

He said the 42-year-old man had set up another company under PBM naming it MyBioScienceLab (MBSL) in 2015 and was CEO of the company.

"I suspect abuse of power and misappropriation of funds by the former CEO after reviewing PBM’s account reports while chairing a meeting on June 26. I believe he must have committed the act when he was still managing the subsidiary.

"This should not happen and the financial value involved is huge, it affects both PBM and the state government. I hope a detailed investigation can be done immediately,” he told reporters at a press conference here today.

Norhizam said MBSL was a private company created to conduct clinical studies in pharmaceuticals, biopharmaceuticals, medicine, herbs, botanicals, biotechnology and agro-chemicals.

He said MBSL had revenue through the business but the profit was not shared with PBM.

However, the lab utility bills including water and electricity since 2015 had to be fully borne by PBM using the allocated funds of the state government.

He said that up to now more than RM500,000 of the laboratory utility bills had to be borne by PBM, and PBM was even forced to cover the cost of renting two-storey laboratories.

"Prior to this, the Audit Department had reprimanded PBM about the use of about RM537,322.13 or 30.9 per cent of the total allocated by the state’s Finance and State Corporation Department by MBSL, but no action was taken at state level,” he said. — Bernama