This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on August 25, 2017 - August 31, 2017

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Noor Ehsanuddin Mohd Harun Narrashid has quit as an independent and non-executive director of Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV), citing “professional and personal reasons”.

An Umno politician and member of parliament for Kota Tinggi, Johor, the 53-year-old Noor Ehsanuddin is formerly a board director at Felda Investment Corp Sdn Bhd (FIC). He was appointed to FGV’s board in July 2013.

His resignation came amid investigations by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission over alleged graft in the purchase of a luxury hotel in Kensington, London, by FIC, which reportedly took place between 2013 and 2015.

According to news reports, Noor Ehsanuddin was questioned by the MACC for nearly six hours on Aug 9 over his role as one of the three directors in FIC at the time the controversial purchase took place.

Besides Noon Ehsanuddin, the two other former FIC directors questioned by the anti-graft body were Datuk Nik Azman Mohamed Zain, who now chairs Iris Corp Bhd and Datuk Dr Omar Salim.

FIC was alleged to have bought the controversial London hotel, a 62-room Park City Grand Plaza Kensington, at an inflated price of £60 million, equivalent to some RM330 million, when the hotel’s actual value at the time of purchase was said to be around RM110 million.

Established in July 2013, FIC is the wholly-owned subsidiary of the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda), which is mandated to invest in non-agricultural business. Felda has a 33.37% stake in FGV.