KUALA LUMPUR: Selangor paid over RM2.6 million in “golden handshakes” to the aides of former Menteri Besar (MB) Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim when he stepped down two months ago, a decision made in the last days of his term in office.

In a document sighted by The Malaysian Insider, RM2.27 million in compensation and RM376,000 in lieu of three months’ notice were allegedly paid to Khalid’s eight members of staff.

It is understood the payments were approved by Khalid, who is a member of the Menteri Besar Incorporated (MBI) board, and his four-man PAS exco on Sept 22, in one of his last acts as MB.

The document showed that of the payments, the highest amount of RM695,400 was allegedly paid to Faekah Husin, former chief executive officer (CEO) of state-owned MBI. She allegedly received RM581,400 in compensation and another RM114,000 in lieu of three months’ notice.

Khalid’s press secretary Arfa’eza Abdul Aziz was allegedly paid RM358,000 in compensation and another RM55,000 in lieu of three months’ notice, while his political secretary Mustapa Mohd Talib was allegedly paid RM265,000.

The rest were allegedly paid between RM97,000 and RM230,000 each in compensation, and between RM18,000 and RM69,000 in lieu of three months’ notice.

Faekah and Arfa’eza did not respond to calls and text messages from The Malaysian Insider while Khalid denied any impropriety, saying he adhered to proper procedures.

Khalid has been reported as saying the payments were made under a voluntary separation scheme (VSS) which was offered to the staff when he left office.

Khalid’s successor Mohamed Azmin Ali admitted yesterday that there were elements of wrongdoing in the matter and that MBI would discuss next week the next steps to be taken.

A source told The Malaysian Insider that initial investigations by the state audit department found that proper procedures were not followed and that the payments were hurriedly made.

The department is still looking into other aspects, such as terms of compensation and whether the MBI board of directors were aware that such huge amounts were paid out.

“They were not terminated, they resigned, so who approved such a large amount? On what basis were such big payouts given and procedures followed? These are the things we are looking at and a full report on this is expected to be out soon,” said the source. — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on November 18, 2014.