KUALA LUMPUR (July 18): A decision to appoint an external auditor for an independent audit on Human Resource Development Corporation Bhd (HRD Corp) may set a very "dangerous precedent", a former senior executive of the agency has warned.

If the Ministry of Human Resources is allowed to appoint an external auditor, other ministries and agencies could follow suit and potentially challenge the findings of the National Audit Department (NAD) and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), said HRD Corp’s former chief operating officer Ariff Farhan Doss.  

"This move is akin to casting aspersions on the NAD and the PAC and would limit the functions of both the agency and committee," Ariff told reporters after attending a briefing in the Parliament building on Thursday.

On July 10, Human Resources Minister Steven Sim announced that the ministry will appoint a third-party auditor to ensure transparency in the independent audit of HRD Corp, following reports from the NAD and PAC on the agency's operations from 2019 to 2023.

The agency came under the spotlight after reports by the NAD and PAC flagged unusual transactions, including suspicious disbursements, dubious property deals, and risky investments.

"I would call on the prime minister to put a stop to this,” Ariff said. “He cannot allow his ministers in the Cabinet to start dictating any audit done on their agencies or ministries.”

Ariff also flagged a potential conflict of interest in the decision to appoint an independent auditor, as the ministry's secretary general Datuk Seri Khairul Dzaimee Daud also sits on the board of HRD Corp.

"How are they selecting the independent auditor? Who does the selection? Is the NAD involved in the selection? These are all important questions," he stressed. 

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