Police record Rafizi’s statement over LCS project

KUALA LUMPUR: PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli was called in by the police to have his statement recorded over the controversy surrounding the littoral combat ship (LCS) project.

He said he hoped the investigation would be done urgently.

When met outside the Sentul police headquarters before giving his statement yesterday, Rafizi said he also hoped the police would look into the report on the issue lodged by PKR chief strategist Akmal Nasir, who is also Johor Baru MP.

“The information is the government’s, not mine. It named Datuk Dr Abd Latiff Ahmad as the husband to Zainab Mohd Salleh,” he said, adding that his phone was taken by the police as part of the investigation.

He entered the police headquarters at about 3pm and left at 4.45pm.

After giving his statement, he told the media that the police had only recorded his statement over the report lodged by Abd Latiff’s aide, Sayed Ahmad Mui’izzuddin Al-Sayed Mohamad.

In a statement, Sentul district police chief ACP Beh Eng Lai said an investigation paper against Rafizi had been opened and confirmed that his handphone was seized for further investigations.

“He is being investigated under Section 500 of the Penal Code for defamation and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 for improper use of network facilities or network services,” he told Bernama.

In the report, Rafizi is alleged to have issued several defamatory statements claiming that a Zainab Mohd Salleh, who was implicated for allegedly misappropriating funds from the LCS project, was Abd Latiff’s wife.

In a Facebook post on Aug 26, Abdul Latiff, who is Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Special Tasks), denied claims that his wife or wives were involved in the 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,” the Mersing MP wrote.

The LCS project came under intense scrutiny after the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) revealed that none of the six ships commissioned to be built by Boustead Naval Shipyard had been completed. The first delivery was due in 2019.

It was reported that RM1.4bil worth of government funds intended for the multi-billion-ringgit project signed in 2014 was diverted for other purposes.

These were among the findings contained in the PAC’s 250-page report tabled in Dewan Rakyat on Aug 4.

On a separate issue, Rafizi said he would give his stance on the Penang undersea tunnel project next week.

Despite promising to do so by last Friday, he explained that he had delayed it due to the police bringing forward the recording of his statement to yesterday.