This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on March 24, 2025 - March 30, 2025

Construction and infrastructure giant IJM Corp Bhd (KL:IJM) is a well-managed company not known for courting controversy. It was, therefore, a big surprise when social media posts and a UK-based news portal made allegations connecting it to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigation into former prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob over the discovery of RM170 million kept in a safe house.

The social media posts and online articles alleged that a portion of the money seized by MACC came from IJM via two company officials, one still with IJM and another who had retired.

While the MACC has kept mum, IJM’s share price took a beating on March 17. It has since recovered after the company responded by lodging a report with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) over the posts and articles. IJM also issued a strongly worded statement denying the allegations and vowed to take legal action against those responsible. It also took the right step to brief analysts who cover the company as the stock is held by many fund managers, including the Employees Provident Fund and Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan), or Retirement Fund Inc.

In the highly competitive construction industry, paying bribes for contracts may happen more often than we might think among private companies. The flow of funds draws less scrutiny as it is owned by individuals.

But for listed companies such as IJM, it is hard to fathom large movements of funds that cannot be properly accounted for. Furthermore, in the case of IJM, it does very few government jobs. In recent years, it has won several mandates from the private sector to build warehouses and data centres and is in the running to win more such jobs from international clients.

While IJM has stated it would cooperate with the authorities if required, the question that remains is: What was the motive of the hidden hands responsible for the postings to target the construction company and its leadership?

Could it be because IJM is sitting on RM2.4 billion cash as at end-2024 and has steady cash flow from assets in three highways and a port?

Conducting a smear campaign via social media to destroy the value and reputation of a company for a hidden agenda is a dangerous precedent that should be nipped in the bud before it becomes a trend. Let us hope that MCMC will be able to unmask those hidden hands.

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