PETALING JAYA: None of my family members are involved in business involving the supply or construction of the littoral combat ship (LCS) project, said Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad (pic).
The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Special Tasks) denied allegations that his wife or wives were involved in the controversial scandal.
“I have no wife or wives named Zainab Mohd Salleh.
“None of my family members are involved in business involving the supply or construction of LCS ships,” he said in a Facebook post on Friday (Aug 26).
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Abd Latiff, who is the Mersing MP, quipped that as a representative from the sea and island area, he likes to eat fish but not sharks.
He ended with a Malay poem saying that a liar's words will soon die and become a jake.
On Aug 22, PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli named Abdul Latiff as another key player in the LCS scandal.
Rafizi alleged that companies linked to the second wife of a former deputy defence minister, was involved in the littoral combat ship (LCS) scandal.
PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli in a statement had linked one "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.
The declassified forensic report on the LCS scandal on the Boustead Heavy Industries Corporation Berhad (BHIC) also named a pair of husband and wife, Abdul Latiff Ahmad and Zainab Mohd Salleh, as the individuals linked to Alizes Marine Ltd, a company which was flagged for suspicious transactions in a spare parts deal.
The report mentioned more of Zainab’s role than Abdul Latiff’s. While the report was not specific, it is believed that the Abdul Latiff here referred to the former deputy defence minister.
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Zainab was said to be the shareholder and director of Alizes Marine Ltd domiciled in Malta, and Intralogisitics Ltd registered in Labuan, which owns Alizes Marine Labuan and Sousmarin Armada Sdn Bhd.
“BHIC suspected serious irregularities in the procurement process of various spare parts by Boustead Penang Shipyard. This contract was awarded by Boustead DCNS Naval Corp Sdn Bhd.”
Most of the procurement was made through Alizes Marine, but there were few accounts in the name of Alizes Marine. These were created to impersonate Alizes Marine France so that payment could be channelled to a third party,” he added.
BDCNS is a joint venture between BHIC and DCNS, which was formed in 2009 for ship maintenance and allied services.
