MyCC CEO Iskandar Ismail said the three companies were Abadi Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Kota Landskap Sdn Bhd and Usia Maintenance Sdn Bhd.
He said the cartel activities – involving six tenders issued by Putrajaya Corporation between 2018 and 2021 and valued at nearly RM45 million – were in violation of Section 4 of the Competition Act 2010.
“Following complaints about bid-rigging activities involving several projects related to building and facility maintenance, landscaping, and civil engineering work in Putrajaya, MyCC conducted a preliminary assessment and identified nine enterprises suspected of being involved in the bid-rigging cartel.
“A full investigation was then carried out, including raids on the premises of the companies involved, taking statements from 24 individuals, requesting information, and analysing relevant evidence,” he told a press conference at the MyCC office here.
Following the investigation, MyCC issued a proposed decision against the companies on Sept 10, 2024, and received their representations on Nov 11 the same year and on March 13, 2025.
“After a thorough review of the representations, MyCC found that the companies had violated the Competition Act and issued a final decision yesterday,” Iskandar said.
Commenting on the cartel’s modus operandi, he said the activities were coordinated by Abadi Malaysia. The investigation found coordination in bidding for tenders among the companies through the sharing of information via WhatsApp, email and several meetings.
“MyCC also found that tender documents were prepared by employees from all three companies at a single location under the coordination of Abadi Malaysia through one of the company’s directors. This modus operandi was used by this cartel group in all six projects,” he said.
Iskandar added that during the raids, documents belonging to all the companies were found at Kota Landskap’s premises, indicating centralised coordination in the preparation of tender documents.
“This collusion resulted in Usia Maintenance and Abadi Malaysia each winning one tender. However, they were found guilty over the remaining four tenders, too, because evidence showed cartel behaviour in all four of those tenders,” he said.
Iskandar said that for Kota Landskap, MyCC found that the company had also exhibited the same cartel behaviour throughout the entire process of preparing and submitting tender documents for all six tenders.
He said the investigation found that the directors of the companies had family ties and were friends with each other, but no Putrajaya Corporation officials were involved in the cartel activities.
“We have around 14 ongoing cases and we are investigating more than 500 companies involving RM2.3 billion worth of tenders,” he said.