PKR has urged the government to freeze the assets of National Feedlot Corporation (NFC), prompted by fears that it may restructure itself this week and thereby hamper police investigations into the company.

Party strategy director Rafizi Ramli said he has obtained information that the NFC would be holding an emergency general meeting and a meeting of board members sometime this week. 

NONE Rafizi ( left in photo ) said that the EGM was called with a suspiciously short three-day notice, which he claims shows that something was brewing. Normally, a notice of 14 days is given before an EGM is to be held.

"I understand that among the agenda to be discussed is the takeover of the National Meat and Livestock Corporation, a company owned by Women and Family Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil's family.

"NFC is a GLC through a special share owned by the Finance Ministry.

"I believe this hurried action to call the meeting of NFC directors and the EGM may have an improper intention and may hamper on-going investigations by the authorities," Rafizi said.

He said PKR wants prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, who is also finance minister, not to rest on his laurels and intervene by freezing any activity or decision by the company to use funds provided by the Malaysian government.

He said the proper move for Najib to ensure corporate governance should be to appoint proper special administrators to run the NFC, as the company has hitherto shown several cases of questionable practise in the use of the RM250 million provided by the government.

“Because there are efforts by the NFC to conduct business in a questionable manner, I propose that the government through its representatives on the board of directors appoint independent corporate or special administrators to manage NFC until investigations are completed.

“This is a good governance practice to prevent any further alleged misappropriation in the company from happening,” said Rafizi.

‘Why no immediate action?’

Rafizi said that he is puzzled that since the matter came out in the Auditor-General’s report, there has been no immediate action by Najib as finance minister to stop possible further abuse.

He has come to know that as of 2009, a total of RM84 million had been spent from the RM250 million fund.

“I do not know what the amount is now, it could be much more after two years. However, what is important from the government’s standpoint is to try and recoup the money.

“This can be done with the first step of freezing the accounts and assets, and appointing special administrators so efforts can be made to recover it,” Rafizi said.

Also present at the press conference was PKR’s investment and business bureau chairperson Wong Chen.

azlan It was reported that the NFC, which is supposed to be involved in the cattle business had purchased luxury condominiums in Bangsar.

Also it was alleged that NFC funds were also used to purchase a Mercedes and two plots of land in Putrajaya, where more than RM3 million were transferred to finance it.

The NFC project was described “as a mess” in the Auditor-General’s Report, following the making of questionable purchases and the Negri Sembilan Menteri Besar Inc, having taken back 3,000 acres of the 5,000 acres set aside for the project.

MACC should investigate its board member's allegations

On the same issue, Rafizi disclosed that he has obtained an email a from Malaysian  Anti-Corruption Commission advisory board member, Megat Najmuddin Megat Khas, dated Dec 31, over an incident where NFC had allegedly attempted to hire a middleman to bribe the investigators.

NONE Until now, he said PKR has not received any information over actions to be taken by the MACC following the revelation.

The full contents of Megat Najmuddin’s ( right ) email are as follows:

“I had a v nice Thai dinner with the lawyer for NFC and Dato Salleh (Ismail) just before I left for Chiangmai on the 22nd nite. This lawyer has just come from an interview session the police had with his clients. He told us about this conman’s story, about how this sweet talking guy managed to convince his desperate client to part with his money so that he can get the police to be ‘less brutal’ in their interrogation! It is sad to see how stupid one can get when you are stuck ‘between a rock and a hard place!’

“It is definitely not a ' wayang '. Now our NFC Dato may be open to a charge of being an accomplice in an attempt to bribe the police! MACC now can come in directly into the picture, otherwise it has always been a police matter.”

Rafizi said he will be lodging a report with MACC this afternoon for them to investigate the email and the attempted bribe.

“Megat Najmuddin’s view should be taken into serious consideration by the MACC as he had said himself in the email that there are corrupt elements involving Salleh and the police. Hence the MACC can take further action on this,” he said.

“Megat Najmuddin is a respected figure as he held various positions in the government including the MACC advisory committee, the board of directors of Petronas and the presidency of the Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance, as well as being a Bank Negara adviser,” he said.

He hoped that Megat Najmuddin can reveal this to MACC for proper action to be taken.

So far, Rafizi said action has been taken on Shamsubahrin Ismail, 45, who faces two counts of cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court, but there has been none taken against Salleh.

“This is certainly not right,” he added.

In an immediate response, Megat Najmuddin in an email response said MACC is investigating the matter.

“I was merely stating my opinion but I must say it was based on hearsay and conjecture. I am not the final arbiter as to who is to be charged or not! Let MACC do their work, please. Let us not speculate.

“I am upset at the lack of ethics, even in a private email group! It is not a mass based group, please!”

VIDEO | 9.25 mins

 

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