Malaysian Corruption Watch demands forensic audit and independent probe after Auditor-General’s Report reveals RM183 million in unreturned grants and financial mismanagement at UKM.
PETALING JAYA: A governance crisis is unfolding in the higher education sector, with the Malaysian Corruption Watch (MCW) calling for a full forensic audit and independent probe after the 2026 Auditor-General’s Report uncovered major financial irregularities at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
MCW president Jais Abdul Karim said the findings point to systemic failures in oversight and accountability within the higher education sector.
The report revealed RM183.11 million in unreturned research grants involving 7,904 projects across four ministries, with the Higher Education Ministry accounting for the largest outstanding sum of RM110.67 million.
Nearly half the funds have been overdue for between five and nine years, while some have remained unreturned for more than a decade.
“At the same time, the audit uncovered serious financial mismanagement at the university. It had collected RM50.74 million in student fees through its cooperative without proper authorisation, RM32.36 million in unrecorded revenue and RM6.69 million in irregular expenditures, including commissions paid to unqualified agents.
“The use of corporate credit cards by unauthorised individuals and conflicts of interest among university officials were also found.”
He stressed that public universities are custodians of public funds and must be held to the highest standards.
“They are institutions entrusted with public funds. Research grants and student fees are public money and contributions from families for children’s education.
“When grants are left unmonitored for years and fees are not properly recorded, it is no longer merely an administrative issue, it is also a governance failure.”
He urged authorities to conduct a forensic audit of all grants overdue for more than five years and all fee-collection agreements, calling for an independent probe into potential abuse of power, gross negligence or breaches of financial laws.
“Any criminal elements must be referred to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.”
Jais called on the Higher Education Ministryto implement a national recovery plan to strengthen grant monitoring and financial controls, saying accountability must extend to the highest levels of management.
MCW pledged to monitor follow-up actions by the ministry and the universities involved, stressing that the public has the right to know how their money is spent and who is responsible.
Responding on Tuesday, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia acknowledged receipt of the Auditor-General’s Report and said a comprehensive review is underway to facilitate reforms and strengthen governance systems.
It said it is prepared to take disciplinary or legal action based on the final investigation outcomes, in line with due process.
It added that internal corrective measures have been initiated and declined further comment to safeguard the integrity of ongoing investigations.
Also on Tuesday, Higher Education Deputy Minister Adam Adli Abd Halim confirmed that the university has stopped using cooperatives for student admissions and fee collection.
The audit found that offer letters issued in 2024 for the Master of Education and Postgraduate Diploma in Education programmes set total student fees at RM60.77 million, of which RM50.74 million was collected by Koperasi B-5-1788, a cooperative not formally authorised under the university’s Constitution to collect fees on the university’s behalf.
Adam Adli said the university has taken over admissions and fee collection directly for the postgraduate programme seventh cohort first semester 2025/2026 and the master’s programme tenth cohort second semester 2025, describing it as a corrective measure to ensure transparency and accountability.
“Adjustments have been made, recognising RM2.27 million for the master’s programme and RM30.09 million for the postgraduate programme in 2024, as well as RM27.67 million for previous 2025 cohorts, while all fees for the postgraduate programme seventh cohort have been fully accounted for.
“A letter of demand has been issued to the cooperative involved, with RM1.83 million recovered, and efforts to recover the balance are ongoing through legal channels,” he said during the winding-up debate on the Auditor-General’s Report in the Dewan Rakyat.
The Sun Malaysia
