KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 8): The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) should be held accountable for the alleged losses of the Malaysian Rubber Board (MRB) from the sale of land in Sungai Buloh, according to the Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4).

"The EPF's response that the purchase was made at arms length, is irresponsible, to say the least. As a pension fund of millions of tax payers, it owes us the responsibility of more details and proper clarifications," C4 Centre executive director Cynthia Gabriel said in a statement today.

She also questioned as to why the sale of land by MRB was forcefully made to Aset Tanah Nasional Bhd (ANTB) as a "middle agency", before being sold to EPF for millions of ringgit in profit.

"It is untenable that a government-linked investment company (GLIC), and more so a pension fund like the EPF, is involved in questionable transactions and business deals without adhering to proper ethical guidelines and standards," she said.

On Jan 3, Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok highlighted that MRB had sold 2,800 hectares of land in Sungai Buloh to ANTB for RM1.5 billion.

Within two years, ANTB sold the land to EPF-owned Kwasa Land Sdn Bhd for RM2.28 billion.

EPF later said it had no knowledge of any arrangements between MRB and ANTB.

"Who eventually pocketed the (additional) RM800 million?" Gabriel asked.

C4 urged EPF to provide clarification on both the MRB land scandal as well as an earlier reported bailout scandal involving EPF and another government-linked company (GLC) over the ownership of the Battersea Power Station in London.

"We further urge the Pakatan Harapan government to urgently form an independent committee on GLIC and GLC reforms, to stop these bodies from being used for political financing purposes," the C4 Centre added.

"We (also) urge other ministers to follow the lead of Teresa Kok and the MRB to expose fraud and corruption, and work to rectify these immediately, as the public has a right to know," it said.

http://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/epf-should-be-accountable-dubious-land-deals-says-c4