KUALA LUMPUR: A SENIOR official at Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB) has been suspended from duty by the board for alleged fraud, said people with knowledge of the matter.
It is understood that an email was sent to all KTMB employees on Monday by the company’s talent management and organisational development general manager, Hilmi Hasan, notifying them of changes at the management level.
According to sources, KTMB had started an internal investigation on the matter. “We can’t disclose anything more until the investigation is completed.”
KTMB chairman Datuk Nawawi Ahmad declined to comment on the matter when contacted by Business Times.
There have been many attempts to revive the loss-making KTMB, which was corporatised in 1992.
KTMB’s debt had risen to more than RM2.5 billion despite attempts to cut cost and increase revenue.
Its audited cumulative revenue as of December 31 2013 was RM7.4 billion.
Nawawi had previously said that KTMB needed to improve its overall operation and bring in between RM600 million and RM650 million a year collectively to become a profitable entity.
A substantial amount was needed to upgrade the tracks, stations, coaches, wagons and locomotives as well as the signalling and communications system to operate more efficiently, he had said.