PETALING JAYA • Malaysia's defence ministry has lost more than RM500 million (S$166 million) due to several swop deals involving land valued at RM4.75 billion, said Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu.

Mr Mohamad said his ministry has received a report from the Governance, Procurement and Finance Investigating Committee led by former auditor-general Ambrin Buang on the land swop deals, which was discussed in last Wednesday's Cabinet meeting.

"The committee investigated 16 deals involving 2,932 acres (1,190ha) of land belonging to the ministry. In addition to the land value, the cost of the projects is estimated to be RM4.88 billion," he said in a statement on Tuesday.

He added that the ministry was informed that a majority of the land swop projects were implemented without detailed planning.

The selection of developer companies was also not done with due diligence, he said.

When it came to the selection of the land swop locations, Mr Mohamad said there was "political interference from certain quarters".

"This resulted in parts of the projects exceeding the contractual duration initially agreed upon. Alongside this, some projects were completed, but the construction quality is unsatisfactory," he said.

He instructed his officers to file reports with the police, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and relevant agencies so that investigations can be conducted.

Last April, former minister Rafidah Aziz alleged that land belonging to the armed forces had been swopped by a company supposedly under the control of three key individuals.

However, former defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein denied the allegation, saying that it was an "outright lie".

THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK