The government bought 257 armoured personnel carriers (APCs) for RM7.55 billion and not for RM7.8 billion as claimed by opposition MP Tony Pua (DAP-Petaling Jaya Utara).

In a written reply dated Oct 18, Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the ministry did not have any information on Pua's claim that the government had purchased the vehicles from Deftech Sdn Bhd for RM7.8 billion.

Ahmad Zahid Umno VP According to its website, Deftech is a wholly-owned subsidiary of DRB-Hicom Bhd.

"However, the ministry confirms that the baseline vehicles and one-man turret components in the APCs were made of material and technology from the said Turkish defence company, FNSS," Ahmad Zahid said.

He said the purchase of the APCs were for a period of seven years, from this year until 2018.

"The ministry has no knowledge related to the purchase of the 257 APCs by Deftech at a cost of US$559 million (RM1.68 billion)," Ahmad Zahid added.

In the Parliament lobby later, Pua, quoting an online news report by Turkish Press, said FNSS and Deftech had signed a deal to sell 257 Turkish Pars 8×8 APCs to the Malaysian military, but at four times the original purchase price.

"The report also said that Ahmad Zahid had witnessed the signing of the agreement in Ankara, Turkey, in February this year," he said challenging ther minister's written reply to Parliament.

The MP demanded to know why there was a "huge difference" between the Deftech purchase price of the armoured combat vehicles from FNSS and the price of the APCs it sold to the government.

"What made up such a huge gap?" he asked.

"Is the ministry pretending to be stupid, or does it really have no knowledge about the transaction?" Pua asked when calling on Ahmad Zahid to clarify the matter.

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