At a press conference today, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Azam Baki said the investigation into the case was now in its final stages and the public prosecutor had agreed to charge the suspects in the near future.

“They may be charged at the beginning of next year. As far as I know, there are at least nine individuals,” he was quoted as saying by Utusan Malaysia.

“We are still continuing our investigation into other companies as there are many of them.

“We will finish investigating 10 companies first. We are also investigating 17 more, and then we will proceed to (investigate) other companies and prove whether the grants given to them were spent correctly or not,” he told reporters after an anti-corruption conference in Seremban.

On Oct 26, MACC announced it had arrested 16 company directors on suspicion of being involved in the misappropriation of Mitra funds meant for the socio-economic development of the Indian community.

It was previously reported that 337 companies, associations and NGOs were granted RM203 million in Mitra allocations from 2019 to 2021.

The MACC’s investigation into the agency’s fund management is divided into two phases, with the first phase aimed at about 27 companies, associations and NGOs which received between RM1 million and RM9 million.

The second phase of the investigation will be carried out with the national unity ministry through the establishment of a special committee meant to investigate the authenticity of Mitra documents.

Based on the investigation of the 10 companies in the first phase, it was found that 80% of them misused and misappropriated their Mitra allocations.