KUALA LUMPUR, June 8 ― DAP’s Tony Pua has questioned today whether Tan Sri Isa Samad and three other directors have over-stepped their role in the Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV) board, despite being just non-executive members.

Pua said the question about who is actually "running” the plantation firm cropped up after suspended chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Zakaria Arshad publicly alleged that the board had authorised "ridiculous deals” despite the opposition of the executive committee.

"The problem is none of the board of directors, other than the CEO have ‘executive’ functions. This means that they cannot be bringing ‘deals’ directly to the board for its approval,” the Petaling Jaya Utara MP said in a statement.

"Excluding the independent directors, Tan Sri Isa and the three non-executive directors must explain what powers do they have in FGV to direct transactions which were specifically rejected by the management executive committee (exco)?”

Besides Isa as FGV’s non-executive chairman, the three other non-executive directors are Datuk Dr Omar Salim, Datuk Yahya Abd Jabar and Datuk Siti Zauyah Mohd Desa.

There are four other independent directors beside Zakaria who was the sole executive director: Datuk Noor Ehsanuddin Mohd Harun Narrashid, Tan Sri Dr Sulaiman Mahbob, Datuk Mohd Suffian Awang and Datuk Zafer Hashim.

In an interview with StarBiz published yesterday, Zakaria said he had been overruled by the board twice when it came to investing in non-plantation-related areas: £100 million (RM550 million) into nanocarbon manufacturer Felda Cambridge Nanosystems Ltd, and RM300 million for a 30 per cent stake in a Klang factory.

"The proper process should be any proposed transactions must be studied by the exco and put forward to the board of directors for approval,” Pua said.

"The board, after deliberation, could then decide to agree or reject the proposed deal. It is not be any board member, even a non-executive chairman, to propose a transaction directly to the board for approval, especially if it has been specifically rejected by the exco.”

Pua said the non-executive directors should be sacked if found to have failed in carrying out their duties.

On Tuesday, FGV suspended Zakaria and three others over alleged irregularities in transactions between its subsidiary Delima Oil Products Sdn Bhd and Afghan company Safitex.

Zakaria has since met the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission yesterday over allegations of abuse involving FGV officials, while former minister Datuk Seri Idris Jala was appointed by Putrajaya has appointed Idris to "establish the facts of the case and recommend the way forward”.