KUALA LUMPUR (July 1): Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri R Ramanan said legal action against six suspended senior officers of Human Resource Development Corporation (HRD Corp) will only be decided after investigations are completed.
He said the investigations are still ongoing, in response to a question in the Dewan Rakyat by Yeo Bee Yin (Puchong-DAP).
“To date, disciplinary proceedings have been initiated and the process is subject to the outcome of the ongoing investigation,” he said.
He added that “any legal action or appropriate follow-up action will be taken by HRD Corp based on the final outcome of the investigation and in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations”.
Yeo asked the ministry to update Parliament on the progress of HRD Corp’s internal forensic audit and the status of the disposal or restructuring of high-risk and controversial investments highlighted in the 2024 Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report. She also asked whether legal action would be taken against the six suspended senior officers.
Ramanan said HRD Corp “assures that the entire process is being carried out fairly and transparently", adding that “any form of misconduct or violation of the law will not be tolerated in order to safeguard the integrity of the institution and protect the interests of the fund”.
The six senior officials were suspended following reports released by the PAC, auditor general (AG) and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) flagging alleged mismanagement.
Ramanan said HRD Corp is also restructuring its high-risk investments to protect the fund’s long-term interests.
A new investment panel has been formed to improve oversight and ensure better decision-making.
He said HRD Corp recovered RM270.72 million in investment value in 2026 while reducing exposure to high-risk assets from 21.6% to 13.5% of total assets.
The fund has also made progress in recovering investments through legal action, with the first payment expected by the end of June 2026.
HRD Corp, which falls under the Ministry of Human Resources, drives talent development by collecting levies from employers to fund training and development programmes for the Malaysian workforce.
The PAC, the AG and the MACC investigated HRD Corp over the management of unutilised levy, the acquisition of Menara Ikhlas and HRD Corp’s equity investment management, as well as a recent discovery relating to the New Core System (NCS).
The findings relating to the NCS, in particular, involved a procurement amounting to RM14 million and a delay of more than four years following three unsuccessful user acceptance tests.
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