NFC boss denies clarification linked to Wanita Umno polls
(MMO) – National Feedlot Corporation Sdn Bhd (NFC) chairman Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Salleh Ismail said the series of clarifications the corporation had launched over the project had nothing to do with the upcoming Wanita Umno elections, in which his wife, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, will be defending her post.
He said: “My wife has nothing to do with the project … it involves my children and myself.”
He said PKR leaders Rafizi Ramli and Zuraida Kamaruddin had tried to link his wife to the company.
“Let me just say this, she did not know anything about the project. Not even when we made the pitch to the government.”
Mohamad Salleh (picture) said they made two separate police reports against the duo last Sunday. The company has now decided to go out and explain its side in a series of clarifications because the general election is over and it cannot be used as a political tool by the opposition.
His lawyers also advised him to take his time and let them go through the documents before making any clarifications.
“I am only able to come out and make this clarification now because I had spent nearly every day with the police over a four-month period to explain what had happened with the NFC before they charged me.”
Mohamad Salleh has been charged with two accounts of criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving RM49.7 million. He has applied to have the charges against him struck out and the hearing is set for this Friday.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had last year cleared Shahrizat, saying she had nothing to do with the awarding of the NFC contract to her family.
Mohamad Salleh said slanderous statements made by the PKR duo had ruined the reputation of the company.
“Rafizi and Zuraida have been attacking NFC after the 2010 Auditor-General’s report was released. There is no basis to this attack.
“NFC is a private company, and the A-G cannot audit a private company. The A-G, through the National Audit Department, had actually audited NFC, which was set up in 2006 under the Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry.”
Mohamad Salleh said the continuous slanderous attacks on NFC had been convincing, and the government had decided to freeze the company’s accounts.
“Because we were unable to access our accounts, we could not import cows and operate as a normal company. There was no money and there was nothing we could do.
“We decided to sell the company to a Malaysian-Japanese joint-venture company, even though there were many companies interested in purchasing us.”
He said at the moment they have no plans to take legal action against Rafizi or Zuraida.
Mohamad Salleh said the paid-up capital of NFC was RM1.1 million and the rest of the money was in the form of soft loans to the company, which it was still paying back.
