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AirAsia bank loan deal under anti-corruption investigation
Malaysia’s Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is investigating a RM300 million loan from Sabah Development Bank to low cost carrier AirAsia.
The Commission told reporters it ‘cannot reveal much for now’ but confirmed a probe is underway.
New Chief Minister Hajiji Noor ordered an investigation into how and why it was approved by the state-owned bank.
The investigation will look at the role played by former Chief Minister Mohd Shafie Apdal, and whether it was rushed through to bypass any scrutiny from the new state government which took over just a few days before.
Shafie said the deal was above board and has nothing to hide from the MACC investigation.
"As an airline favoured by Malaysians, AirAsia had development plans which would be beneficial to Sabah and they were planning on creating some 100,000 jobs for the state," he said in a statement.
"They were also planning on spending RM110 million to develop the Kota Kinabalu International Airport as their international hub," he said.
The funds were reportedly disbursed to AirAsia as the new Sabah state government took over.
Chief Minister Hajiji claimed this was done without the knowledge of the new government.
Written by Ray Montgomery, Asia Editor
TravelMole Editorial Team
Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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