Azam said the scale of the problem could be seen from the ranks of the military officials currently under investigation by MACC in its probe into the alleged misuse of funds allocated for asset procurement.

“It must be large, and indeed it is,” Azam told Harian Metro.

“In this context, the statement by the defence minister is good, and I welcome it. Personally, I have been anticipating such a statement.

“Moving forward, I will pay a courtesy visit to him and to the ministry’s chief secretary to discuss procurement issues in more detail… perhaps next week,” he added.

He was speaking to reporters after the signing of a memorandum of understanding between MACC and HELP University in Kuala Lumpur today.

Khaled said yesterday that his ministry would implement a major overhaul of its anti-corruption plan this year to combat corruption and the abuse of power.

He also said that all tender and procurement processes would be reviewed and improved, in line with best practices.

The armed forces has been making headlines of late, including over MACC’s probe into a senior army officer over the alleged misappropriation of funds meant for arms purchases.

MACC’s probe into an alleged army procurement cartel led to the arrest of former army chief Hafizuddeain Jantan, who was slated to take over as head of the armed forces, and his two wives to assist in the probe.

MACC is also investigating the owners of 26 companies connected to military procurement contracts allegedly involving a senior army officer.

Several companies are said to have repeatedly secured high-value military contracts since 2023 through bribes.