Transparency International Malaysia president Raymon Ram said many of the Mindef land swap projects were conducted through direct negotiations, a procurement method widely recognised as high risk due to the level of discretion involved.
“Despite the seriousness of these allegations and the scale of public assets involved, Malaysians have seen no meaningful closure, no clear timeline of outcomes, and no transparent explanation of whether accountability has been pursued.
“The findings also remain classified even though the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has called for the report to be declassified,” he added.
Raymon said publicly naming multiple enforcement and governance institutions has shifted corruption away from being viewed as isolated misconduct towards a systemic governance failure.
On Monday, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Ibrahim, warned that the alleged corruption involving senior military officials was likely “just the tip of the iceberg,” adding that graft was also prevalent in the customs and immigration departments, the police, and even among members of the Dewan Rakyat.
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia law professor Salawati Mat Basir said corruption within enforcement and governance institutions was an open secret, and has worsened over the past 10 years.
She urged MACC to investigate all cases involving misconduct and abuse of power, including the Mindef land-swap deals, as they involved public land and public funds.
“The agency should not be investigating only selected cases, even if it faces pressure in choosing which cases to pursue,” she said.
Salawati added that cases involving government and public funds should be prioritised for investigation. She noted that the defence and home affairs ministries were particularly vulnerable, though nearly all ministries were affected to varying degrees.
The defence ministry land-swap deals were first raised publicly in 2018 when the government disclosed that a special committee had reviewed multiple projects involving the exchange of federal land for the construction of military facilities.
Following the committee’s findings, the defence ministry lodged reports with MACC and the police in 2019.
Many arrangements involved direct negotiations with private developers and formed part of a broader defence land-swap programme involving original defence land such as the Kinrara Camp in Selangor, facilities constructed in Sendayan, Negeri Sembilan, the Paloh Camp project in Kluang, Johor, and land at Batu Uban and Runnymede in Penang.
Although the PAC called for the land-swap report to be declassified in June 2023, the findings remain classified.