KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 29 — Investigators from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) today raided multiple locations in at least two states over the Great Alonioners Trading Corporation (Gatco) controversy.
According to The Star Online news portal, the locations raided include Thamarai Holdings in Petaling Jaya, the National Union of Plantation Workers (NUPW) office in Gasing Indah, a law firm in Plaza Pengkalan, and a Negri Sembilan local government unit.
The Negri Sembilan Economic Development Corporation (PKNNS) is also expected to be raided.
The Gatco controversy dates back 40 years. PKNNS in 1977 leased the land to Gatco for 66 years, to be turned into settler housing and a proposed plantation.
After the 1997 financial crisis, the firm's assets were taken over by Danaharta, which subsequently resold this to Thamaraj.
Settlers claim that their offers to buy the land were ignored before it was sold to Thamaraj.
Over 50 Gatco settlers were arrested last month for forming a blockade to prevent the landowner from cutting down their rubber trees at the settlement in Bahau, Negri Sembilan.
The MACC last week announced a special task force to investigate the matter.
