KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 2 — The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is set to lead the investigation to determine if officials had abused some of the RM700 million that was spent to promote the Muhyiddin and Ismail administrations, The Star reported today.

The police had initially led the probe after reports were lodged by a pro-government faction following Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's allegation in Parliament last November that nearly a billion ringgit was allocated for publicity to burnish the image of the last two federal governments between 2020 to 2022, which sparked uproar.

“The police had received the report. Statements from the complainant have been taken.The report will be referred to the MACC for further action,” Wangsa Maju district police chief Supt Ashari Abu Samah was quoted as saying.

Anwar told Parliament last year that between 2020 and 2022, some RM700 million was spent on advertising, promotions and publicity to highlight the achievements of the federal government.

He said most of it — some RM500 million — was spent by the eighth prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

Muhyiddin’s successor, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, was said to have used close to RM200 million for the said purpose.

Ismail Sabri confirmed the matter when asked by reporters in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

“The PM, who is also the finance minister, has explained in Parliament in November, and that is the truth.

“The Finance Ministry had stated in a statement that the current government will be using up whatever allocation that was left over from the previous government.

“The current government itself stated that the expenditure during my tenure was only RM200mil, to highlight the efforts and work of the Federal Government using advertisements, promotions and publicity to propagate the government agenda for the period of 2020 to 2022,” Ismail Sabri was quoted as saying by The Star.

Muhyiddin served as the eighth prime minister for 17.5 months from March 2020 to August 16, 2021.

Ismail Sabri served as the ninth prime minister for 15 months from August 21, 2021 to November 24, 2022.