KUALA LUMPUR: The National Professors' Council (MPN) has clarified it was independent of the government between May 2018 and January 2022, after the Auditor-General flagged it for misuse of funds between 2019 and 2023 in its latest report.
In a statement, MPN said on 23 May 2018, the then administration removed the body from its purview.
"From that date onwards, MPN no longer received government funds. MPN then operated as an independent, self-funded entity with the support of donations.
"During that period, MPN undertook certain initiatives to ensure its survival including making amendments to its constitution concerning its new status."
MPN said it was only in January 2022, that MPN was brought back under the government's purview and received funding from Putrajaya.
Earlier, the Auditor-General said its audit of MPN between 2019 to 2023 found that funds were misused to benefit two companies in which two trustees have a stake.
The report also found two board of trustees members failed to declare share ownership in two companies in line with the Companies Act.
In its response to the Auditor-General, MPN said the two companies were established after the body was no longer under the government's purview.
It said on April 29, the board of trustees decided that the two companies would be brought out of MPN.