Malaysia minister on fraud charge

Mr Kasitah denies the charges

Malaysia's land minister has been charged with corruption over multi-million dollar share transactions.

Kasitah Gaddam was bailed by a court in Kuala Lumpur after pleading not guilty to two counts of corruption.

His was the second high-profile arrest over corruption in Malaysia this week, after former Perwaja steel magnate Eric Chia Eng Hock was charged with fraud.

Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, who faces elections later this year, has launched a crackdown on corruption.

Mr Kasitah was taken to court under heavy police guard just hours after he was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Agency.

The attorney general ordered Mr Kasitah to surrender his passport and travel documents, telling him the offence was "serious".

According to the official Bernama news agency, the charges relate to share transactions by the Sabah Land Development Board, of which Mr Kasitah was former chairman.

The share dealings involved up to 40 million ringgit ($10.5m), the agency said.

According to the French news agency AFP. Mr Kasitah was likely to come under pressure to resign from the government.

If found guilty, he faces up to 19 years in jail.

Steel inquiry

Mr Chia was subject to an eight-year investigation into Malaysia's biggest and longest-running financial scandal.

Perwaja Steel, like many other state companies, was intended as a flagship when it was set up in 1982.

But mismanagement landed it with debts of $2.6bn and losses of $790m.

The company was declared insolvent in 1995, a year after Mr Chia stepped down as managing director.

The BBC's Jonathan Kent in Kuala Lumpur says that while Mr Abdullah had made the fight against corruption a top priority, critics had argued - until this week - that he trawled only for the small fry, not the big fish.

After these two arrests there will be many wealthy and powerful Malaysians busy covering their tracks, in case they too get a knock on the door, our correspondent says.