KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 22 — An individual who reportedly claims to be the daughter of Zainab Mohd Salleh, whom PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli alleged to be the wife of a former deputy defence minister who purportedly owns the offshore company accounts funds from the littoral combat ship (LCS) project were funnelled into, today said that the woman referred to is not her mother.
The Star reported Twitter user Syaza Nazura as claiming that her mother, Dialog Group Berhad’s chief financial officer and joint company secretary, who shares the name Zainab Mohd Salleh, was not the same person as the one supposedly exposed in the Paradise Papers data leak.
“(My mother) Zainab is married to Dr Noor Azmi Mat Adenan. Please retract your statement and issue a public apology,” she was quoted as saying.
She reportedly shared screenshots of a news report from an online portal saying that Zainab Mohd Salleh, allegedly the wife of former deputy defence minister Datuk Abdul Latiff Ahmad, was the supposed owner of offshore company accounts involved in suspicious transactions related to the LCS controversy.
Earlier today, Rafizi released a statement claiming that money for the LCS project had been funnelled into the accounts of offshore companies allegedly owned by the wife of a former deputy defence minister.
He also claimed to have received this information from internal investigations into the LCS scandal and from cross-checking with the database of offshore companies in the Paradise Papers, a 2017 tranche of leaked confidential records related to offshore investments.
He also said that tomorrow he will reveal specific documents connecting Abdul Latiff with Zainab Mohd Salleh, a connection which the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Special Functions) denied.
Last Thursday, Rafizi claimed that RM192 million had been funnelled from the LCS project to non-existent, untraceable offshore accounts.
He also claimed to have sighted a report from an internal investigation by Boustead Heavy Industries Corporation Bhd which revealed how LCS subcontractors had paid €43.69 million, equivalent to RM210 million, based on invoices from a French firm, but payments went to a Malta-incorporated phoney firm instead.
“The modus operandi used is similar to the method used to steal 1MDB money. Fake companies are set up all over the world whose name is identical to a real company,” he said.
Last Wednesday, the report by the Investigating Committee of Procurement, Governance and Finance (JTSUPKK) on the LCS scandal revealed that the government may need to fork out RM11.145 billion in total for the six ships, a significant increase from the RM9 billion agreed upon years ago.
The LCS project is the largest procurement in the history of the Ministry of Defence. The said contract began in 2013 with a 10-year time frame and six LCS ships were expected to be built and delivered to the country by the end of 2023.
