Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudi has called for an investigation into governance practices under government-linked company Pelaburan Hartanah Bhd (PHB) over recent news concerning the spending and bonuses of company executives.
The call comes after a media report last month revealed PHB’s chief executive officer received a massive three-month salary bonus of RM210,000 despite the company’s poor performance in achieving only 42% of its key point indicators (KPI).
PHB, which is the property investment arm of Yayasan Pelaburan Bumiputera, seemingly luxurious executive benefits were also questioned after it was revealed there were also plans for an overseas luxury holiday for employees which was shortly scrapped once it was reported.
She demanded that there should be more transparency over how funds at government-linked companies (GLCs) are managed, especially after similar controversies involving fellow GLC Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) over investment losses with FashionValet.
“There must be a clear and public justification for giving the PHB chief executive officer such a bonus despite failing to hit the KPI.
“It was also worrying that the executives only cancelled the luxury trip after it went viral on social media and was met with much backlash,” she told the Dewan Rakyat during a debate session on the Supply Bill 2025 on Monday (Nov 4).
Mas Ermieyati said that there is a need for transparency. She pointed to recent controversies involving Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) over investment losses with FashionValet, saying PHB’s actions also require public explanation.
She also raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest, disclosing that the CEO had donated RM50,000 to his former school, which raises further governance questions.
DPM justifies PHB’s CEO bonus, dinner sponsorship
DEPUTY Prime Minister (DPM) Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof says the “bonus” paid to Pelaburan Hartanah Bhd (PHB), despite not meeting its key performance indicator (KPI) for 2023, was actually a special payment, akin to an incentive aimed at increasing avenues for growth.
In his winding-up speech for the Energy Transition and Water Transformation Ministry yesterday, Fadillah explained that the payment was due to PHB recording an “increase in gross profit and cooperative earnings” for financial year 2023.
“We can see that PHB implemented corporate transformation as a foundation for long-term growth. That is why an incentive was paid—not because it was a bonus, but because of the achievements PHB made,” he told Dewan Rakyat.
Fadillah also justified the RM50,000 “sponsorship” for an alumni dinner hosted by the CEO’s former school, stating that it was a marketing exercise.
He explained that it was one of the methods used to increase subscriptions to the Amanah Hartanah Bumiputera (AHB) unit trust.
“The alumni association dinner, which was held on Feb 17, was not just about sponsorship, but also served as a programme for PHB to market its AHB unit trusts.
“During that event alone, more than 500,000 units were purchased by the alumni,” he said.Previously, Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin called for an investigation into governance practices at PHB following concerns over the company’s executive bonuses and spending.
It was reported that PHB’s CEO received a RM210,000 bonus, equivalent to three months’ salary, despite the company achieving only 42% of its KPI.
Mas Ermieyati, who is also Masjid Tanah MP, said PHB had initially planned an overseas luxury holiday for employees, but the trip was swiftly cancelled after public backlash on social media.
“While offering benefits to employees can boost morale, it’s troubling that such perks were withdrawn only after public scrutiny,” she said during the Budget 2025 debate.
FashionValet founders’ investigation to continue as MACC probes investment losses
At the same time, he said that the MACC also requires forensic accounting assistance to obtain documents such as those from the Companies Commission of Malaysia.
Additionally, Azam clarified that the investigation would also involve 30 Maple Sdn Bhd, which is said to be owned by the couple.
“This raises questions about how the company was acquired and who gave approval, whether there was a resolution or not—that is the first issue.
“The second issue concerns how the funds from that acquisition were spent and where the money went after being paid to 30 Maple,” he explained further.
The investigation into the couple follows the Finance Ministry’s disclosure that Khazanah Nasional Berhad (Khazanah) and Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) only recovered RM3.1mil from the sale of shares in FashionValet in 2023.
This amount was received compared to the RM47mil investment made by Khazanah and PNB in 2018, consisting of RM27mil from Khazanah and RM20mil from PNB
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