LCS saga: Dialog Group says CFO not woman named by Rafizi in claims

PETALING JAYA: Dialog Group Bhd denies the involvement of Zainab Mohd Salleh, who is the firm's chief financial officer and joint company secretary, in the littoral combat ship (LCS) scandal.

The oil and gas support services provider said that Zainab had been falsely implicated in the saga when she was wrongly identified as a shareholder of Alizes Marine Limited.

ALSO READ: LCS scandal: Finger pointed at the wrong 'Zainab Mohd Salleh' claims daughter

In a statement Monday (Aug 22), Dialog Group clarified that Zainab is the spouse of Dr Noor Azmi Mat Adenan, a Consultant Gynaecologist-Oncologist at Ara Damansara Medical Centre (ADMC).

The firm also said that it would not hesitate to take legal action.

ALSO READ: She's not my wife, says minister Abdul Latiff on Rafizi's claims in LCS scandal

"Any false accusation or misleading statement issued and/or directed towards Dialog Group Berhad, its subsidiaries,including its directors and/or employees,will not be treated lightly, and we will not hesitate to take necessary legal action in respect of such accusations or misleading statements" Dialog Group said in its statement.

On Twitter, Zainab's daughter, Syaza Nazura, said that her mother was not the individual involved in the LCS scandal.

"The Zainab Mohd Salleh in the Paradise Papers is not the CFO of Dialog Group Berhad as you had mentioned.

"Zainab (CFO) is married to Dr Noor Azmi," she tweeted.

Earlier on Monday (Aug 22), PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli alleged that companies linked to a woman named Zainab Mohd Salleh were allegedly involved in the embezzlement of the LCS warship funds.

He also claimed that Zainab was the second wife of Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad, who was the deputy defence minister from 2008 to 2013.

However, Abdul Latiff, in a statement later Monday, denied that the woman was his wife.

On Aug 4, Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) revealed that some RM1.4bil in government allocations for the LCS project had been used for other purposes, including cost overruns.

The two-year probe by PAC also revealed that the RM9bil project was done through direct negotiations with Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd and was inked in 2014.