MACC, police told to conclude NFC probes quickly

The authorities should not be distracted by recent statements on the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) but press on with their investigations on the alleged misuse of funds, urged the Malaysian Chapter of Transparency International (TI-M) today.

“The recent statements on what words were actually used in the AG’s (auditor-general) report should not distract attention from the investigations by MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) and police on whether public funds for a national project were being used for other purposes.

“TI-M hopes that the authorities concerned would press ahead with the investigations and bring them to a quick conclusion in the public interest,” said TI-M secretary-general Josie M Fernandez (right) in a statement.

On Wednesday, NFC had said that the AG’s report had never described the company as being 'in a mess'.

However, Josie said that NFC should not divert attention from the investigations being carried out by the MACC and the police in determining whether there was misuse of public funds.

She added that while Auditor-General Ambrin Buang has confirmed  that the report did not state that it was a mess, he had said that the company did not meet its obligations.

“The Auditor-General in his Jan 25 statement on the NFC feedlot project has stated the project had not fulfilled its objectives, due to several reasons including the failure of NFC to meet it’s agreed upon obligations.

“The Auditor-General further confirmed there were weaknesses in the feedlot project,” she said.

On Thursday, Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister Noh Omar (left) had justified the A-G’s comments as evidence that the NFC was not a failure.

The NFC’s executive chairperson, Mohamad Salleh Ismail, who is the husband of Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, is accused of allegedly misappropriating a RM250million government soft-loan.
 
Police had submitted their investigation papers on the matter to the Attorney-General’s Chambers but they were sent back on Tuesday, with the police being asked to probe deeper into the scandal.
 source:malaysiakini

cheers.