Higher Education Minister says action will follow if serious offences are uncovered in the UKM audit, with the ministry awaiting the full report’s findings.
PUTRAJAYA: Action will be taken if serious governance offences are uncovered in the ongoing probe involving Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), but the Higher Education Ministry will first await the full findings of the audit report.
Its minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir said the next course of action would depend on the severity of the issues identified.
“If there are offences, serious governance issues, then of course there are further actions that need to be taken.
“But we will wait first,” he told reporters after the ministry’s monthly assembly and Ramadan Ukhwah gathering here today.
Zambry said that once an audit report is submitted and presented, it becomes the ministry’s responsibility to direct the institutions involved to address the findings accordingly.
He explained that if the issues identified were not serious and only involved governance or administrative shortcomings, the ministry would implement the recommendations put forward by the auditors.
However, if more serious governance breaches were discovered, further action would be necessary.
“In the context of this UKM matter, we leave it to UKM to take the next steps.
“If there are matters that require police reports or reports to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), we leave it to the university to take the necessary action,” he said.
Zambry added that the ministry has already put in place the relevant regulations for institutions to follow and is now awaiting further reports on the matter.
Yesterday, MACC opened two investigation papers concerning governance and financial irregularities at UKM.
Its chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki said the probe follows issues highlighted in the Auditor-General’s Report 1/2026.
He said the investigation is focusing on student intake programmes that were not approved by the university’s board, as well as alleged false claims.
Azam added that no witnesses have been called up yet, but the MACC will obtain key documents from UKM.
The audit report revealed serious irregularities in UKM’s student fee collection and spending.
It found that an unauthorised body, Koperasi B-5-1788, collected student fees totalling RM50.74 million.
This included RM3.53 million for the Master of Education programme and RM47.21 million for the Postgraduate Diploma in Education.
Furthermore, RM32.36 million in student fees distributed to the cooperative was not recorded as UKM revenue.
The report also stated that RM21.02 million in fees collected by the cooperative were handed over to UKM between 31 and 291 days late.
