Three companies owned by the directors of the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) were found to be dormant since 2007, without filing any audited accounts to the Registrar of Companies.

They are among the companies to which the NFC directors had allegedly transferred part of the RM250 million government soft loan.

NONE According to documents from the Companies Commission of Malaysia, furnished by Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua ( right in photo ), the three companies - Meatworks Corporation Sdn Bhd (Meatworks), Real Food Company Sdn Bhd (RFC), and National Meat & Livestock Corporation (NMLC) - are owned by four family members of Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.

The family members are Shahrizat’s husband Mohd Salleh Ismail, who is also NFC executive chairperson, her two sons Wan Shahinur Izmir and Wan Shahinur Izran, and daughter Wan Izzana Fatimah Zabedah, all NFC directors.

azlan The documents show that both NMLC and RFC have never filed their audited accounts for four-and-a-half years, since Jun 30, 2007, when they were still dormant companies with no revenue or assets, while Meatworks has never filed its accounts since it was set up on Sept 17, 2009.

Failure to hold the company’s annual general meetings, and file annual returns to the Registrar of Companies together with the audited financial reports, are breaches of the Companies Act 1965, for which those found guilty can be subjected to five years’ imprisonment or fined RM30,000, said Pua.

“Hence, not only was the siphoning of funds to these companies owned by the directors of NFC a breach of trust, the directors were also negligent, intentionally or otherwise, in accounting for the use of the monies.

“The directors of NFC must answer as to why NMLC and RFC have never filed their accounts or even presented them to the Finance and Agriculture ministries as part of NFC’s loan agreement to provide updates on the use of the funds,” Pua told a press conference at DAP headquarters in Kuala Lumpur this morning.

He is also DAP national publicity secretary.

Last Friday, Pua revealed that NFC, as at 2009, had ‘siphoned’ RM81.4 million from the company account to private companies unrelated to NFC but owned by its directors, namely the four family members of Shahrizat.

He believed the fund was part of the RM250 million government soft loan given specifically to develop the National Feedlot Centre project, and the total amount ‘siphoned’ will definitely have exceeded RM100 million as of now.

Earlier on, NFC directors had argued that these companies, including the trio, were indeed “always meant to be subsidiaries of NFC” although they were not financially structured as such.

‘Documents show otherwise’

During today’s press conference, Pua raised the query that if those private companies are supposed to be NFC subsidiaries, they should be properly managed to ensure accountability and transparency over the use of the taxpayers’ money, but the documents showed otherwise.

“There is no record on how they spend their money, nothing... this is a clear case that money from the government has been abused,” he said.

The biggest fear, Pua pointed out, is that should the directors backdate the accounts of the three companies to rectify the problem, the figure could be fudged.

He then took the Registrar of Companies to task, questioning why no action was taken against the directors for failing to comply with the Companies Act 1965.

“Is it because they are big shots so they are allowed to continue for four-and-a-half years without filing accounts?”

Pua urged the authorities to investigate the directors and freeze the assets of all these companies to protect the public funds from those who abuse their powers.

He also reminded auditor of the companies to be extra diligent in auditing the accounts as public interest is involved, and report any breach or non-observance of laws to the Registrar of Companies.

“The penalty for not fulfilling the duties of an appointed auditor is imprisonment for two years or RM30,000 or both,” he warned.

In another related development, Pua confirmed that the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee, of which he is a member, had decided yesterday to summon representatives from NFC to explain the scandal on March 19 and 20.

The committee also requested officials from the Finance and Agriculture and Agro-based Industries ministries to give their explanation, he added.

Also present at the press conference was Kasthuri Patto, the newly-appointed political secretary to DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang.

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