KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 14 — Former minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor and real estate developer Datuk Tan Eng Boon will be charged tomorrow with offences related to Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s (DBKL) land deals, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) said today.
Tengku Adnan, who was Federal Territories minister and Umno secretary-general, is expected to be jointly charged with Tan at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court at 2.30pm, MACC said in a statement.
Tengku Adnan was arrested by MACC this afternoon upon arrival at its headquarters in Putrajaya, where he is expected to spend the night before being presented in court tomorrow.
Previously, Tengku Adnan had admitted to being called in by MACC at least 12 times to have his statements recorded regarding several questionable land deals transacted by DBKL during his time as Federal Territories minister.
He has since claimed innocence to the allegations against him, explaining that he surrendered all of the ministry’s land matters to the then prime minister’s office when he was appointed as the minister in 2013.
Meanwhile, Tan, who has been referred to in past news reports as a “real estate tycoon”, is also the chairman of ceramic products company, Goh Ban Huat Bhd (GBH).
A recent report by The Edge explained how the dubious sale of more than 90 plots of land was only unearthed after the Barisan Nasional (BN) government was defeated.
This, in turn, allowed the incoming Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration to shed light on the allegedly shady land deals undertaken by DBKL.
It detailed how several land purchases, some of which were in prime areas such as Jalan Raja Chulan and Pudu, took place with the Kuala Lumpur mayor listed as the buyer.
The total amount of land acquired by the “mayor” alone was worth a whopping RM1.5 billion.
Reports have alleged that these plots, once purchased, had their ownership transferred to Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan, a foundation chaired by Tengku Adnan.
Under the guise of purchases made by the mayor, these acquired plots were later sold — some at a price significantly lower than the market value — to selected developers.
The report also listed 71 of the purported 90-over land deals made under Tengku Adnan’s watch as Federal Territories minister.
Interestingly, among those listed as one of the landowners was Tengku Adnan’s alleged co-conspirator Tan.
An entry in the report’s list of land deals showed a 0.54-acre plot of land worth RM4.92 million purchased by a company named, NipponKey Sdn Bhd, on October 10, 2015.
Tan is a shareholder of the company with his two sons, Datuk Seri Edwin Tan Pei Seng and Datuk Seri Godwin Tan Pei Poh, holding a 40 and 30 per cent stake respectively.
*A previous version of this story contained errors which have since been corrected.
