NFC shocked over cbt charge proposal

(Bernama) – The embattled National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) is shocked over the police recommendation that chairman Datuk Dr Mohamed Salleh Ismail be charged with criminal breach of trust (CBT), describing the statement as premature.

“NFC is shocked and puzzled that Bukit Aman director of commercial crimes Syed Ismail Syed Azizan has prematurely issued such a statement when he had admitted the investigations are still ongoing and therefore, incomplete,” it said.

In a statement prepared by its public relations consulting firm today, the NFC said the company was addressing the police claim on the advice of its counsel, Datuk Seri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.

According to the statement, the NFC questioned the prudence and motive behind the police statement, saying it appeared to be an attempt to unfairly pre-empt the attorney-general’s (AG) decision over the matter.

Yesterday, Syed Ismail said the police proposed to charge Mohamed Salleh, husband of Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, for CBT.

He said the proposal was in the investigation paper being prepared by the police after it was returned from the AG’s office on Tuesday, to investigate several other matters.

“The investigation paper would be sent back to the AG shortly,” he said when contacted by Bernama.

The issue on the NFC headed by Mohamed Salleh as the executive chairman began to receive public attention after the Auditor-General’s 2010 Report last October said NFC had failed to meet the objective of its establishment.

It became a hot issue when the opposition alleged misappropriation of the government’s RM250 million allocation to NFC.

NFC is a beef valley project in Gemas, Negeri Sembilan to increase the production of local beef and reduce national dependence on imported beef.