Sabah gold mining scam: Six individuals, including a Datuk, have been remanded.
Published on: Thursday, May 18, 2023
By:
Lagatah Toyos, Nora Ahmad
The suspects (seated) being taken to the court in Tawau yesterday.
TAWAU: Six individuals, including a Datuk, have been remanded for three days starting Wednesday for allegedly cheating the Sabah Government of RM1.25 million worth of royalty from their gold mining operations.The remand order was issued by Magistrate Leona Dominic Mojiliu following an application by prosecuting officer from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Asmawi Kulup Lam.
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The suspects – five men and a woman aged between 42 and 67, were arrested at the MACC Office here late Tuesday for investigation under Section 420 of the Penal Code.
It is understood that the suspects, including the chief executive officer and director of a company, had allegedly tried to deceive the Sabah Government by providing statements on the sale of the gold with false details.
They had apparently avoided paying royalties to the State Government from the mining operations.
It is believed that 100kg of gold worth RM25 million that was mined and should have contributed RM1.25 million in royalty payment to the Government from 2020 to 2022 was not reported by the companies concerned.
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The two companies are believed to have conspired to commit the crime.
Meanwhile, in KOTA KINABALU, the MACC arrested a man who owns a training service company for allegedly submitting false claim documents involving approximately RM570,000 to the Social Security Organisation (Socso) under the National Economic Recovery Plan Programme (Penjana).
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According to sources, the 34-year-old was arrested when he was asked to appear to give evidence at the MACC office here on Tuesday.
The suspect is understood to have made a claim through an employee verification form that contained a list of names of non-existent employees.
The suspect is believed to have submitted false claims in 2020 until 2022.
Magistrate Stephanie Sherron Abbie granted the application for a remand order on the suspect for five days until this Saturday.
MACC Senior Director of Investigations Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hashim, when contacted, confirmed the arrest and said the case is being investigated in accordance with Section 471 of the Penal Code.
In the same court on Tuesday, two individuals from different companies were also remanded for five days for allegedly committing the same offence involving approximately RM550,000.
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