KUALA LUMPUR: Sports Commissioner indicated that Malaysia Rugby's (MR) extraordinary general meeting (EGM) held yesterday will be considered valid if the majority of its affiliates accepted the financial reports that were presented.
However, he disclosed that he had yet to receive a report on the EGM from MR, which is needed to determine whether all requirements were fulfilled.
"The Sports Commissioner's Office (SCO) has yet to receive the report for the EGM conducted by MR on May 19," said Suhardi when contacted today (May 20).
"SCO will examine the report to determine whether the association's constitution was adhered to and also examine the accuracy of the financial report that was audited."
MR presented their audited accounts for 2021-2022 during the EGM in Kuala Lumpur yesterday (May 19).
The meeting turned out to be a heated affair which saw representatives from Sabah Rugby Union (SRU) walking out as they were not happy with various issues.
SRU questioned the legitimacy of the EGM, highlighted that the notice for the EGM was issued late and claimed there were discrepancies in the audited accounts with a number of significant expenses, exceeding RM2 million, not explained in detail.
In the end, 12 out of 15 MR affiliates that attended the EGM voted to conditionally accept (terima bersyarat) the audited accounts for 2021-2022.
The condition is that MR must furnish their affiliates with more details on money spent during the period.
The accounts for 2021-2022 were not presented during last year's annual general meeting as MR's accounts were still being investigated by the police due to an embezzlement case from 2022.
In December 2022, MR discovered that an administration staff member had embezzled a large sum of money, believed to exceed RM1 million, from the national body's accounts with withdrawals stretching back to 2019.
The staff member, who was in charge of MR's accounts, is alleged to have falsified the signatures of then-president Datuk Shahrul Zaman Yahya and treasurer Datuk Ahmad Zaki Zahid to make cash withdrawals.
The staff member then falsified the accounts to cover up the withdrawals.
MR exco member ACP Najib Hamzah yesterday disclosed that the investigation into the case is currently in its final stage and that police have already identified the suspect.
