KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 25 — Police have asked the Attorney-General’s Chambers
to charge National Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp) directors with criminal
breach of trust after opposition politicians claimed a part of the
government’s RM250 million soft loan was used for other purposes.
CCID Director Datuk Syed Ismail Syed Azizan confirmed the matter with several media organisations this evening.
“We are recommending to the Attorney-General’s Chambers that all NFCorp directors be charged (for CBT),” he told The Malaysian Insider.
NFCorp, which operates the national cattle-farming project, is
chaired by federal minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil’s husband,
Datuk Seri Mohamad Salleh Ismail. Their three children also hold
executive posts in the company.
The NFC hit the headlines after it made it into the Auditor-General’s
Report last year, and has continued to hog the limelight after it was
linked to Shahrizat and her family.
Since
then, PKR has revealed numerous startling exposes over the
scandal-ridden project, including allegations that millions of ringgit
have been siphoned off for land, property and personal expenses
unrelated to cattle farming.
But recently, in response to claims that NFCorp had purchased two
luxury condominiums worth RM34 million in Singapore’s posh Marina Bay
Suites, Shahrizat’s son Wan Shahinur Izmir had explained that the
company had decided that it would make better use of the money by
investing in property during a break in business operations.
The break, said Wan Shahinur Izmir, was caused by the government’s
decision to suspend the construction of an abattoir that would have been
rented to NFCorp.
According to the DAP’s Tony Pua, however, the Finance Ministry had
told a parliamentary committee last November that there was no provision
that permits the NFCorp to use its federal loan to purchase property.
Earlier today, Pua revealed the NFCorp’s loan agreement, which he
claimed proved that the company had violated conditions attached to the
RM250 million facility.
Since the scandal exploded in the media, Shahrizat has been faced
with repeated calls for her resignation, even from her colleagues in
Umno. But she has insisted that the project had nothing to do with her.
The Wanita Umno chief applied for three weeks’ leave from her
ministerial duties last month when new allegations of bribery surfaced.
She has since resumed her duties.
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced last month
Putrajaya would appoint an auditor to scrutinise NFCorp’s books in light
of accusations made against the company, but dismissed calls for a
royal commission of inquiry into the NFC.
No comments:
Post a Comment