PUTRAJAYA: Graft investigators have yet to decide whether to call Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad over his alleged links to the littoral combat ship (LCS) scandal.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki said the matter was still being looked into.
"We are still investigating this case. We need to check on that (calling Dr Latiff)," he told reporters on Thursday (Sept 8).
On Aug 22, PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli alleged that companies linked to the second wife of a former deputy defence minister were involved in the LCS scandal.
Rafizi had linked one “Zainab Mohd Salleh” to an offshore company with units incorporated in tax havens such as Malta and Labuan.
The declassified forensic report on the LCS scandal involving Boustead Heavy Industries Corporation Bhd (BHIC) named a husband-and-wife pair, Abdul Latiff Ahmad and Zainab Mohd Salleh, as the individuals linked to Alizes Marine Ltd.
The company was flagged for suspicious transactions in a spare parts deal but the report however did not specify who the said Abdul Latiff was.
The report also listed Zainab as the shareholder and director of Alizes Marine Ltd domiciled in Malta, and Intralogistics Ltd registered in Labuan, which owns Alizes Marine Labuan and Sousmarin Armada Sdn Bhd.
Latiff has since denied that any of his family members are involved in the LCS project and had lodged a police report over the claims.
On investigations into the LCS scandal, Azam said his investigators needed more time to probe the case.
"We are not just looking into the issue of governance in the LCS case but also investigating if there are elements of criminality.
"So we need more time including to call witnesses abroad," he said.
The PAC report presented to Parliament on Aug 4 said some RM1.4bil in government allocation for the LCS project that was signed in 2014 was used for other purposes, including cost overruns.
