The crisis-ridden National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) has welcomed the government's plan to act against it for alleged misappropriation of RM1.2 million in union funds based on an external audit report.

In early March, Human Resources Minister Dr Fong Chan Onn ordered the director-general of trades union to appoint a chartered auditor to clean up the union - which has split into two rival factions - promising swift action if a case is found.

When contacted today, NUBE general secretary J Solomon - a leader in one of the factions - said any action against those who misused the union's monies is most welcome.

"We want the ministry to also act against the individuals who are operating from an unregistered premise claiming to be NUBE officials," he said, in clear reference to the rival faction led by ex-president Muhammad Fauzi Shamsuddin.

The faction occupying the union's registered premises along Lebuh Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, is headed by the current president Abdul Jalil Hamid, who is aligned to Solomon.

The protracted leadership struggle began following Solomon's ouster as general secretary two years ago, but his faction has claimed to be the union's legitimate leadership.

Consulting with AG

Earlier today, Fong was quoted by national news agency Bernama as saying that the ministry was consulting with the Attorney-General's Chambers on the sufficiency of evidence from the audit report.

He said based on the report completed two weeks ago covering accounts, funds, balance sheets and cash belonging to the two feuding groups, there is a case against the union.

On July 24, the union filed a complaint with Fong regarding the operations of Fauzi's group from premises not registered to the NUBE and that it was encouraged by the director-general of trades union.

Copies were sent to de facto law minister Dr Rais Yatim, chief secretary to the government Samsudin Osman and Public Complaints Bureau director-general Wan Abdul Wahab Abdullah.

Today, NUBE received a reply from Samsudin saying that the matter has been forwarded to the ministry's secretary-general Dr Mohd Yahya Nordin for investigations.

"We hope action will be taken against these individuals to stop them from adding to the confusion among members and the banks as to the legitimate union officials," said Solomon.

Personal accounts

He added that Fauzi's group has still not returned more than RM12,000 taken from the union's benevolent fund account in Bumiputra-Commerce Bank Berhad. The fund is meant for members who resign or retire from the union.

"We don't want any lip service. Let's wait and see what the ministry has concluded in the audit report," he said, adding that the ministry has not given a copy of the report.

On Feb 22, Fauzi's group obtained a court injunction to bar the other from accessing the union funds in several local banks.

However, six days later, Abdul Jalil's faction got a court order compelling Fauzi's group to return all funds amounting to RM1.2 million that were transferred from the union's accounts to personal accounts.

Following the court ruling, only part of the monies were redeposited into the union's bank accounts. The remaining sum have yet to be accounted for.

The faction led by Abdul Jalil has repeatedly asked Fong to help end the leadership tussle.