A Malaysian businessman with cross border links to powerful leaders in the past was today named by PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli as the another shadow figure to have played a key role in the ongoing financial scandal surrounding the government’s littoral combat ships (LCS) project.
Rafizi said the businessman was tied to Bersatu’s Datuk Seri Dr Latiff Ahmad, a caretaker minister whom the PKR politician previously alleged of involvement in the LCS forensics audit report through a company named Mega P Asia Sdn Bhd.
He added that the businessman had a shady past and had been embroiled in scandals involving the late Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and had also been arrested in Sri Lanka.
Rafizi also claimed the businessman to have family ties to a former Malaysian prime minister.
He said the businessman’s sons are equally well-connected and currently run a company with stakes in MySejahtera Sdn Bhd, one of whom even holds senior position there.
Malay Mail is withholding publication of the businessman’s name pending checks.
“Latiff Ahmad is the original shareholder in this company that got various sea defense contracts from Boustead’s subsidiaries, including to supply manpower to projects under Boustead,” Rafizi told a news conference at the PKR headquarters here.
He provided reporters present with a copy of what he purported as a report from the Registrar of Companies on Mega P Asia.
The document ostensibly showed that Dr Latiff and his brother resigned from Mega P Asia’s board of directors on March 10, 2020. They were then replaced by the businessman’s two sons.
Dr Latiff was initially from Umno who left the party after Election 2018 who later joined Bersatu in 2019 and was made a minister in the Perikatan Nasional government on March 3, 2020.
On August 23 this year, Rafizi claimed hanky panky within Mega P Asia between Dr Latiff and a woman named Zainab Mohd Salleh who was alleged to be the minister’s second wife as well as his business partner.
“Mega P Asia Sdn Bhd was also named in the Forensic Report of the LCS Project as one of the companies linked to Dr Latiff Ahmad who profited from the country’s sea defence projects,” Rafizi said in quoting Paragraph 3.16.13.4 page 97 of the declassified forensic audit of the LCS project by the Boustead Heavy Industry Corporation (BHIC).
Rafizi said he found out the businessman’s identity from industry sources who were in the know about the LCS project as well as defence dealings, and had also made his own investigations.
“I want to get into the bottom of this and find out who is behind the scam.
“It is like 1MDB, where someone is responsible for it and the person is not easily found,” he told reporters.
“If it is being taken to court, I can bring the retired high ranking naval man to testify,” he added.
“With this disclosure, I await for, firstly, Latiff Ahmad’s response after evidence after evidence showed how he was an important character in the LCS scandal through his business relationship with Alizes Marine Ltd and now the said businessman.
“Second, the feedback from the said businessman regarding this disclosure,” he said.
Source : Malay Mail
The government “scammed” with an overpriced app
The PAC’s chairman Wong Kah Woh reportedly said that a ceiling price worth RM196 million has been set by the finance ministry to procure MySejahtera over two years, and reiterated that the amount is exorbitant and is anathema to the concept of CSR.
The sum was approved by the Cabinet in November last year.
Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin noted that the RM196 million ceiling was below the RM300 million that both Entomo Malaysia and MySJ were seeking for.
For context, Entomo reportedly sealed an exorbitant deal worth RM338.6 million with MySJ making MySJ the effective “owner” of the app. So, any deals to sell off the app in its entirety to the government would have to be within this range or more—unless MySJ can renegotiate its terms with Entomo or accept making a loss.
Not only did Entomo enter a commercial agreement with MySJ during the supposed CSR period, but both companies also appear to share the same business address, with high-profile and potentially politically linked individuals as directors in MySJ. There are also questionable and mysterious business figures, as reported by various sources.
With the potentially over-priced buyout of MySejahtera, these are the people that could directly benefit from the takeover.
Previously, Khairy was reported to have said the following: “I can tell you for a fact that the amount that we are negotiating with MySJ is much, much lower than RM300 million. Far lower than RM300 million.”
EMIR Research assumed (for discussion’s sake) that if the figure ends up being between RM80 to 100 million, we opined that this would still mean the government is paying about 10 times the actual development cost if we use the RM8 to 10 million development cost assumption.
At RM196 million, this is a far cry from “far lower” and is now around 20 times the assumed actual development cost.
Of course, the government would downplay this and try to convince the people that this is a good deal. Unlikely anyone would admit that they got conned, what more admitting involvement.
Now, if MySJ gets the deal for the assumed RM196 million, this is already around two-thirds of MySJ’s cost of RM338.6 million.
Other revenue streams for MySJ to recover its investments would likely include various public health expansion plans in MySejahtera, which could be on top of the said RM196 million.
Either way, the point is that Entomo (and potentially MySJ) are the only ones making big money.
The people are the true losers, as the government overspends people’s money, enriching the few, while concerns regarding personal data protection remain.
As noted by leading Malaysian health portal CodeBlue, the ceiling price to purchase the relatively simple app is more that the health ministry’s annual cancer budget.
The PAC’s role is to hold the government accountable for its use of public funds and resources.
Recommending the government to take over MySejahtera is one thing, but the PAC must ensure those involved in getting the government into this trouble are held accountable, as its role should be.
Neither incompetence nor collusion is acceptable, so, heads must roll.
Source : Astro Awani
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