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PETALING JAYA: The bankrupt academic at the centre of a controversial appointment by Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) is no longer leading the department, according to the institution’s website.

A check by FMT shows that Zamrin Dimon is now the acting head of the cardiovascular and thoracic surgery department, while the academic has been listed as “professor”.

A UiTM source confirmed that the information on the website was current.

Questions about the academic’s financial status were raised on social media after he was interviewed by a news portal recently.

A search conducted with the insolvency department confirmed that the academic had been declared a bankrupt in 2014, and remained undischarged as of April 25 this year.

Several netizens also claimed that they had enrolled in a private medical university started by the same person some 10 years ago, which was later shut down, forcing the government to intervene.

UiTM defended the appointment, saying the insolvency department had granted the university “conditional approval” to hire the individual, and that he was engaged for his “experience and expertise”.

A former dean of a local university, who spoke on condition of anonymity, and Johan Ariffin Samad, a member of the G25 group, however, dismissed the explanation, saying it “missed key points” and that the exception made for the academic did not bode well for the institution’s image.