Malaysia’s troubled anti-graft agency is probing a $280-million deal between the Malaysian government and British chip giant Arm Holdings, Agence France-Presse reported. 

Malaysia inked a deal last March with the UK-based conglomerate to boost its production of high-end semiconductors, but the agreement has since drawn allegations of fraud, abuse of power, and governance issues, AFP said. In a press conference held Wednesday, the head of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Azam Baki, told reporters that the agency had summoned 12 witnesses from various governmental agencies to answer questions about the deal. 

Summoned witnesses include representatives of the “economy ministry, Malaysia’s investment development authority, and also from the trade ministry and several other agencies,” Azam said in the AFP report. MACC officials did not name specific witnesses, according to the report. 

The deal is intended to elevate Malaysia’s place in the global chips sector, where it currently focuses on low-end services such as packaging, assembly, and testing, the news outlet said. Under the agreement with Arm Holdings, Malaysia would adopt a new role in water fabrication and integrated circuit design. 

MACC is separately facing alarming allegations that the agency has colluded with businessmen to strong-arm control over the companies it investigates. MACC officials allegedly involved in the schemes have used the agency’s powers to freeze accounts and force suspensions on executives until they are forced off of boards and divest their shares to accomplices, according to reporting by Bloomberg. 

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said a special committee investigating Azam’s shareholdings is expected to release its findings soon, the news outlet said earlier this week.

Read more by AFP via The Jakarta Post