Sim said the funds were distributed to 315 training providers, not allocated to a single company.

“There have been claims that RM51.7 million was spent on a single company with 3,726 repeated participants.

“I would like to clarify this misunderstanding. In fact, the funds involved 315 training providers,” he told the Dewan Rakyat.

“Secondly, 84% of the 3,726 participants, which is approximately 3,132 participants, only repeated their courses two to three times within a year,” he added.

The auditor-general’s (A-G) report had flagged the disbursement as suspicious, with some of the recipients supposedly repeating the courses 16 times.

The report also noted that 234 of the supposed participants were suspicious, having logged identical names and identification numbers.

Today, Sim said appropriate action would be taken against anyone found guilty, regardless of their position.

“This is our commitment and determination, and we have demonstrated this resolve by taking immediate action and being held accountable to the public,” he said, but also urged the public not to overreact.

Earlier today, the human resources ministry said it would conduct an independent audit of HRD Corp following findings by the Public Accounts Committee and the audit department.

Sim said a third-party professional auditor would be appointed by July 31 to review all processes and documentation.

Yesterday, officials from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission visited HRD Corp’s office and seized three boxes of documents believed to be linked to the findings in the A-G’s report.