This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on August 16, 2017

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) yesterday arrested former Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) chairman Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad, saying it has a “strong basis” to detain him in order to complete its probe into the controversial purchases of two hotels by Felda Investment Corp Sdn Bhd (FIC).

Mohd Isa, 67, was arrested after being questioned for about two hours at the MACC office in Putrajaya, where he arrived at with two lawyers at 2.40pm. However, only he was allowed to enter the office.

MACC deputy chief commissioner of operations Datuk Azam Baki said the arrest was a follow-up to the statements Mohd Isa gave to the anti-graft agency’s officers previously. “MACC is confident that it has a strong basis to make the arrest to facilitate the completion of investigations into the case,” Azam said when contacted.

“Mohd Isa will be detained for one day, and he will spend the night at the MACC lock-up,” a MACC official told The Edge Financial Daily over the phone yesterday. “[Today], MACC will be applying for a remand order from the court.”

In 2010, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak appointed Mohd Isa as the chairman of Felda for a five-year term from January 2011. Felda wholly-owns FIC, an entity engaged in non-farm business and strategic investments. Between 2014 and 2015, FIC was alleged to have purchased two luxury hotels — Park City Grand Plaza in Kensington, London, and Merdeka Palace Hotel & Suites in Kuching, Sarawak — at inflated prices.

A four-star hotel with 62 rooms, the London hotel was reported to have been bought for £60 million, allegedly £20 million higher than the market price. As for Merdeka Palace, a five-star hotel with 213 rooms, FIC was alleged to have overpaid by about RM50 million.

Mohd Isa, a former menteri besar of Negeri Sembilan, is among several individuals who have been hauled up by MACC in connection with cases linked to Felda. His former aide Muhammad Zahid Md Arip as well as former FIC chief executive officer Zaid Abdul Jalil had previously been held under MACC remand. The anti-graft body had also called up FIC’s former and present directors, and raided various offices to assist in investigations.