KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 31 — Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) confirmed today that some of its officers are now on leave while an internal probe is carried out on the central bank’s RM2 billion purchase of a plot of land.

BNM said it commissioned in August a review by an independent party in relation to the purchase of the land on "Lot 41.”

"The review is still ongoing. To facilitate the internal review, relevant officers of BNM have opted to take a leave of absence,” it said in the brief statement, without specifying who was the independent party conducting the review.

BNM did not state how many officers are now on leave over the matter.

The central bank’s statement comes after StarBiz reported that four BNM officials were put on leave pending investigations into the controversial transaction.

On May 24, the Wall Street Journal reported that the previous Barisan Nasional administration allegedly made BNM pay US$500 million (RM2 billion) of 1Malaysia Development Berhad’s (1MDB) debt.

The WSJ reported then that funds for 1MDB to pay the debts had come from BNM through a land deal instead of through the sale of the company’s power plants under its rationalisation programme.

On May 24, BNM said it had initiated the land purchase that it asserted was conducted at arm’s length and transacted at a fair value that was determined by an independent private sector valuer.

BNM also said at the time that the transaction complied with all the relevant governance requirements and laws, adding that it has "extended comprehensive information on the transaction to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for a complete and independent review”.