KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 7): Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) has confirmed that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officials visited its offices on Monday (Feb 7) to begin an investigation into integrity issues involving several senior MARA officers.

MARA and its investment holding company MARA Corp Sdn Bhd are ready to extend their cooperation in this matter, the agency's chairman Datuk Seri Azizah Mohd Dun said, adding that they are leaving the case entirely to the MACC to investigate.

"MARA is always committed to ensuring that its integrity is preserved and will never compromise on any abuse of power and malpractice involving public interest," Azizah added in a statement.

According to an MACC source, its officers conducted raids at MARA and MARA Corp headquarters, and at a corporate secretary company around the city.

The raids were believed to be for the purpose of collecting documents related to power abuse linked to several officers at the agencies which had gone viral on social media, Bernama reported.

The MACC on Saturday said it had received a report on the alleged integrity issues, and pledged to conduct an investigation into the matter.

It said the investigation would be framed under Section 23(1) of the MACC Act 2009, which relates to the offence of any public body officer who uses their position to obtain bribes.

The integrity allegations stemmed from a Twitter account that exposed a letter on Feb 4 regarding a request by MARA Corp's executive director to investigate five MARA officers concerning integrity issues.

Azizah has denied any abuse of power or mismanagement within MARA Corp, adding that MARA had already commenced further internal investigation into the firm by reviewing relevant internal documents to ensure the company's good governance was intact.

MARA oversees and promotes the development of the bumiputera community in professional fields and entrepreneurship. According to its 2019 annual report, MARA as a group received RM4.23 billion from the government, of which RM1.89 billion was allocated for educational sponsorship.

The agency had RM20.73 billion worth of assets. It had RM1.98 billion in cash and short-term funds and RM1.47 billion in bank deposits.

MARA owed creditors RM174.62 million in 2019, while liabilities stood at RM18.11 billion with some RM9.23 billion in outstanding educational sponsorship and RM7.98 billion in outstanding development expenditure.

MARA said that in 2019 its investment arm Pelaburan MARA Bhd invested as much as RM5.85 million in listed equities on Bursa Malaysia and RM2.66 million in unlisted equities.

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MACC raids MARA HQ, MARA Corp offices in KL over alleged integrity issues