This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on July 17, 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: Backed by five new members, the special committee investigating governance, procurement and finance in the fedeal government is set to kick-start its probe into several projects under the purview of the defence ministry.

“We have a list [of projects], but we need to discuss it first. We have limited manpower, so we need to prioritise [certain] cases,” committee chairman Tan Sri Ambrin Buang told reporters yesterday after chairing the panel's first meeting.

The former auditor-general is joined on the committee by Malaysian Institute of Accountants former president Tan Sri Dr Abdul Samad Alias, Felcra Bhd chief secretary and director Datuk Dr Mohd Tap Salleh, and Malaysian Institute of Integrity president and chief executive officer Datuk Dr Anis Yusal Yusoff.

Also on the panel are former National Audit Department audit director Datin Paduka Ong Swee Leng and lawyer Dr Zulqarnain Lukman.

Announced by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in early June and established by the cabinet, the committee has the mandate to investigate suspicious cases of asset procurement, abuses of power and wastage of federal funds. It will also offer recommendations for the improvement of government procedures to prevent leakages.

The committee will report directly to the prime minister and submit its findings to him. It does not have powers of enforcement prosecution, said Ambrin.

“[What we are doing] is like a special audit. It is not a regular audit to be tabled in parliament,” he said.

“If we [discover] wrongdoing, we will report it to the police or the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission. They will investigate and if there is a case to be brought to court, they will bring it to court,” he said.

There is no fixed time frame for the investigations, and the committee will meet “as and when required”, said Ambrin, adding that the probe will not be limited to the defence ministry.

“Our powers are wide [ranging]. We are starting with the defence ministry. This does not mean other ministries will not come under our scrutiny.

“We will discuss which other ministries [should be investigated] based on the information we receive,” Ambrin said, adding that the committee will investigate suspicious cases and not necessarily every government ministry.

“Anyone can share information with us; we will study and analyse it,” he said.

The defence ministry had previously come under scrutiny for deals including the acquisition of Scorpene submarines from France worth €1.2 billion in 2002. It was also involved in the privatisation of some 40,000ha of land to three persons without an open tender, and the disappearance of two air force fighter jet spare engines from the Sungai Besi air base in 2008.

When asked if the Scorpene case was among those being investigated, Ambrin said: “We cannot say yes or no. We’ll see.”

He said the committee has the basis for investigations into these projects, although the number of cases it will pursue depends on its findings.

“Maybe the first list [of projects for investigation] does not have any cases, so we will close them and move on to other cases,” he said.

Ambrin said that the national audit department would carry out routine audits separate from the committee. Nevertheless, the department will assist the committee, with several officers being posted to the committee's secretariat, led by Rosli Yaakub from the finance ministry.