In a statement, Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Wong Kah Woh said there were 682 auditing issues, with five of them potentially subject to punitive action while the others could be corrected.

“One of the cases pertains to the loss of public funds amounting to RM44.53 million involving the hiring of expatriates by the home and human resources ministries,” he said.

Other cases included overspending RM2.81 million on a project to upgrade KTMB services under the transport ministry and misspending RM16.77 million on a new energy development programme under the energy and natural resources ministry.

Wong also said the auditor-general’s financial statements and federal agency compliance audit revealed that there were issues with Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT).

“LTAT failed to return the government’s monetary contributions amounting to RM695.06 million and had made irregular dividend payments,” he said.

“PAC will hold a special meeting to examine all the issues raised today and will commence proceedings after coming to a decision on the actual issues to be investigated.”

Regarding the PAC investigation into the RM397 million uCustoms system that has yet to begin as well as the failure to procure six littoral combat ships, worth RM9 billion, Wong said the proceedings for both had been completed.

He said it was important for both sides of the political divide to agree to work together on these two issues for the benefit of the country and people.