KUALA LUMPUR, April 13 — The Selangor government must assuage concerns that Ijok settlers might have been cheated, an Umno leader said today.

The party’s Supreme Council member Datuk Seri Irmohizam Ibrahim was referring to the arrest of the settlers’ steering committee chairman and his deputy by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) recently over allegations that the pair took kickbacks from a third-party consultant company.

He recounted the case, saying 2,200 acres of land belonging to 981 Ijok settler families had been sold by two ‘crony’ developers to a listed company for RM1.18 billion.

Irmohizam added that the money was divided between the settlers and the developers, each receiving RM300 million and RM880 million.

Of the RM880 million, Irmohizam claimed that the third-party consultant company received at least RM262 million.

He claimed the settlers were compensated for a mere RM3 per square foot of land, whereas the current market price ranges from RM35 to RM65 per square foot.

"The PKR Selangor government via the consent judgement, settlement agreement and supplementary settlement agreement, is believed to have full knowledge and support of how this RM1.18 billion pie was shared,” he said in a statement.

Irmohizam alleged that the 16-person committee, to which the two suspects belonged, had been formed without the prior knowledge and consent of the original committee that represented the settlers.

This happened, he said, in 2014, after Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim had been removed as Selangor mentri besar.

"The developers later announced that they only recognised and will negotiate with the new committee. This new committee then appointed Subang MP and lawyer R. Sivara’s firm Daim and Gamany to represent the settlers, and whose fees would be paid by the developers,” he said.

Irmohizam added no balloting was conducted to ensure the transparent allocation of houses that the 981 settlers each received as part of their compensation.

However, Irmohizam claimed each of the new committee members received corner lots which are worth more than the other units.

"There are now deep suspicions that the committee colluded with the developers, the consulting firms and politicians from the state government in an elaborate scam to cheat the settlers into accepting an obviously unfair payment,” he said, adding this meant a betrayal of the trust of the people that the PKR-led government claims to represent.