PKR: Shahrizat's family owns RM10mil S'pore condo

In a new twist to the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) saga, PKR today exposed that the family of cabinet minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil owns a luxury condominium in downtown Singapore worth about RM10 million.In a press conference, PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution today revealed documents showing that the minister’s family owns a unit at the award-winning Orchard Scotts condominium on Anthony Road since Jan 27, 2010.

“The condominium was bought for S$4.1 million and has a floor size of 2,282 square feet, which is one of the largest units in the luxury condominium in downtown Singapore, according to the Singapore Redevelopment Authority’s records,” said the Machang MP.

An official search at the Singapore Land Authority, provided to the press today, found that the condominium was registered to Shahrizat’s husband Mohamad Salleh Ismail and their children Wan Shahinur Izran Mohamad Salleh and Wan Izzana Fatimah Zabedah Mohamad Salleh. It is unclear if the unit is rented out or occupied for personal use.

The women, family and community development minister is under fire after the auditor-general flagged the feedlot project run by her family and costing the government RM250 million in soft loans, as a “mess”.

PKR had previously exposed that the family used part of the money to purchase luxury units at One Menerung, Bangsar, but NFC has dismissed this as an investment strategy.
The One Menerung units are owned by NFC subsidiary National Livestock and Meat Corporation (NLMC).

Money trail to Singapore

While PKR cannot show that the NFC loan was used to pay for the Singapore condominium, Saifuddin said that the family’s financial capability and background should raise alarm bells.

“Salleh was the president of Technology Park Malaysia which wasn’t a business entity. When he went into the cattle business, his businesses sustained losses. He could not have generated millions of ringgit (to make the luxury purchases),” he said.

PKR chief of strategy Rafizi Ramli added that “intercompany balances” between Malaysia-based companies and Singapore-based companies owned by the family raise questions.

“We have established three transfers being made. Money sent from NFC to (Malaysia-based) Real Food Company (RFC) and from RFC for Meatworks (in Singapore)... and Global Biofuture.

“You can deduce the same modus operandi in Malaysia. The same modus operandi could have been deployed for the transactions in Singapore,” he said.

Producing email correspondence between one Donna Yong of Meatworks Singapore and the finance department of NFC, Rafizi said there is evidence that S$530,000 was transferred from NFC to the Singapore company for October to December 2010's operations expenditure.

The email thread also includes Yong’s correspondence with Mohamed Salleh, Izran and Izzana regarding a shortfall in revenue for the upmarket restaurant.

“S$530,000 of government funds (was) used to pay for a private business... if this had continued throughout 2010 and 2011, we project RM10 million spent on this Singapore business,” he said.

‘Freeze their assets’

As such, Saifuddin said Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak must break his silence on the issue or risk appearing that he is condoning the misappropriation of funds.

“We urge that all bank accounts and expenses of NFC and related companies owned by Shahrizat’s family be frozen, pending a transparent and immediate investigation,” he said.

Rafizi said that among areas which the police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission can look into is the likelihood of falsification of claims made in applying for disbursement form the special loan account.

PKR will lodge a second report on the matter with the MACC tomorrow.


Source : http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/184590