HRD Corp said the reports were released by Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the auditor-general (A-G) as well as the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.
It added that this concerned the management of the government-linked company’s (GLC) unutilised levies, the acquisition of Menara Ikhlas and HRD Corp’s equity investment management.
HRD Corp said it also involved the recent discovery of a “new core system” which entailed a RM14 million procurement that had seen a four-year delay after three unsuccessful user acceptance tests.
“For this purpose, HRD Corp will implement an internal investigation process that is transparent and conducted with integrity, with a clear mandate, scope and terms of reference,” said HRD Corp CEO Shamir Aziz.
Shamir said the investigation would include reviewing documents, financial records, and meeting minutes, as well as recording statements from the relevant officers.
He said that moving forward, approved HRD Corp training programmes must be held from 21 days to three months after the approval date.
“This timeframe provides employers and training providers with sufficient lead time for proper planning and preparation, including venue booking, participant registration and the coordination of logistical arrangements.
“At present, the absence of systematic monitoring for approved training programmes has weakened governance controls and oversight.
“There have also been instances where training programmes were conducted prior to approval, with grant applications submitted only after the training had taken place,” he said.
The HRD Corp CEO vowed to strengthen the GLC’s monitoring and enforcement mechanisms, starting with the deployment of officers to oversee the implementation of training programmes.
The 2024 A-G’s report had recommended that the human resources ministry refer HRD Corp’s management to enforcement agencies after the GLC failed its audit.
It said the actions and decisions of its management did not comply with procedure and failed to protect the interests necessary for achieving HRD Corp’s objectives.
PAC meanwhile revealed that the company’s investment panel had not reported its investment activities appropriately to its board of directors, with collected levies “aggressively” used for high-risk investments.
Similarly, the A-G’s report said HRD Corp had amended its key performance indicator goals for 2020 to 2023 without the approval of its board of directors.
However, in December 2024, it was reported that MACC had cleared HRD Corp’s management of wrongdoing, saying no offence under the MACC Act was committed.
The findings of MACC’s investigation were presented to HRD Corp in May last year, to help improve its practices, systems and procedures, thus reducing the risk of graft.