Menteri besar Amirudin Shari said the legal firm was believed to be directly involved based on its areas of expertise, including in completing land transactions.
“It is not the work of one person. They have links and connections with several departments and other institutions to complete the process.
“So far, a legal firm and officers from the district and land office were found to be involved. That’s how much we know now,” he said in response to Danial Al-Rashid Haron Aminar Rashid (PH-Batu Tiga) during Question Time.
Danial had asked whether other entities were involved after Selangor land and mines office director Yusri Zakariah confirmed last month that seven staff of the Klang district and land office were among 17 civil servants arrested over illegal land transfer activities in the state.
Amirudin said compensation for the landowners involved would be determined on a case-by-case basis as a large amount was involved. He also said the state government would look for replacement land with the agreement of all parties.
“Not just the landowners, the state government was also affected by the (illegal land transfer) activities because we had to spend a huge amount of money to address it,” he said.
Amirudin said the state government was also reviewing weaknesses or shortcomings in the transition from a manual to electronic system for land transfer to avoid overlapping development and unclear ownership, which would have a negative impact on the owners and state government.
He said the state government had identified at least three cases of illegal land transfer, and that some of the officers involved had died or retired from public service.
“What we can do is file a police report, and the police will investigate. If the officer is still there at the district and land office, we will transfer him to another place or at least impose some restrictions with regulations and suspension,” he said.
Amirudin said that sessions with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and an integrity improvement programme were also being implemented to prevent corruption and misappropriation in the public service.
“The public services department is also rotating jobs for counter service staff so that no officer will be in one place for too long, to make it possible for unwanted incidents (misappropriation) to occur,” he said.
He added that the state government had ordered each district and land office to conduct audits and inspections to ensure that illegal land transfers do not happen again, although only one district and land office had been found to be involved.