He said Zakaria had “jumped the gun” in claiming this. The board, he said, had only suggested it.
“The FGV board was of the view that Zakaria should resign so it will not become a huge issue, although it doesn’t mean we are trying to cover up.
“But he jumped the gun. We never asked him to resign,” he said at a press conference, adding that Zakaria’s claim about being told to resign had gone viral.
Isa said PricewaterhouseCoopers, an auditing firm, had discovered irregularities in transactions involving Delima Oil Products Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of FGV and Afghan company Safitex.
FGV internal auditors, he said, also found irregularities when they investigated the matter.
Zakaria, who was appointed chief executive officer on April 1 last year, has been asked to go on leave pending the outcome of investigations into the issue of a delayed payment by Safitex to Delima Oil Products.
FGV’s group chief financial officer Ahmad Tifli Mohd Talha has also been asked to go on leave.
Earlier today, Reuters reported that Zakaria had refused to resign, after the company directed him to go on forced leave.
Zakaria was issued the order to go on leave today by the company’s board of directors.
According to the New Straits Times, he was ready to accept the request to go on leave pending investigations, stating he had no problems if it was part of the process.
Asked today how long Zakaria would be on forced leave, Isa said it would be until the investigations were completed.
“And if we are not happy with the outcome of the investigations by the internal auditors we will issue him a show cause letter,” Isa added.
Isa said FGV had notified Bursa Malaysia that Zakaria was on leave from today pending the conclusion of the investigations.