PETALING JAYA: A woman who claims to be the daughter of a "Zainab Mohd Salleh", the name of the woman implicated in the alleged misappropriation of funds meant for the littoral combat ship (LCS) project, says that the woman referred to is not her mother, who bears the same name.
Twitter user Syaza Nazura claimed that the "Zainab Mohd Salleh" referred to in the "Paradise Papers" data leak was not her mother, who is Dialog Group Berhad's chief financial officer and joint company secretary.
"(My mother) Zainab is married to Dr Noor Azmi Mat Adenan. Please retract your statement and issue a public apology," she tweeted on Monday (Aug 22).
She shared screenshots of an online portal's news report that a "Zainab Mohd Salleh" - said to be the wife of Mersing MP Abdul Latiff Ahmad - was the owner of a company involved in suspicious transactions related to the RM9bil contract by Boustead Naval Shipyard (BNS) to build the six combat ships.
PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli in a statement on Monday had linked a "Zainab Mohd Salleh" to an offshore company with units incorporated in tax havens such as Malta and Labuan.
Rafizi later clarified in a tweet that the "Zainab Salleh" he was referring to was not the Dialog CFO.
He also claimed that "Zainab Mohd Salleh" is the second wife of Abdul Latiff.
Abdul Latiff, who is also Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Special Functions), was quick to deny Rafizi's claims and said that Zainab was not his wife.
"As a Cabinet minister, I am ready to give my full cooperation with the authorities in any further investigation," he said in a statement on Monday.
Abdul Latiff served as the deputy defence minister from 2008 to 2013 under Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who was the defence minister at the time.
He left Umno and joined Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia after the 14th General Election.
