Rafizi: Why did Zainab’s Alizes Marine buy mineral water, cotton buds as part of LCS project’s spare parts?

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 25 — PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli today claimed that Alizes Marine — the company owned by Zainab Mohd Salleh, the alleged wife of Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Special Functions) Datuk Abdul Latiff Ahmad — made purchases that did not meet the requirements of defensive replacement parts.

Rafizi said that according to the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) forensic audit report, purchase orders issued by the company included items such as mineral water, cotton bud packs, cleaning cloths and fan, which is not categorised as defensive level spare parts for repair and maintenance work.

“The contract to supply the LCS’s spare parts that was given to Alizes Marine involved a payment of around RM210 million between 2011 to 2015 alone.

“That is why there are some important questions that need to be answered regarding the stock of spare parts, as the PAC report reveals that the project has purchased up to RM1.7 billion of spare parts while the ship has not been completed,” he said in a statement here.

The former Pandan MP then raised the question of how much of the RM1.7 billion purchased items were actual spare parts needed for ship repairs and maintenance, throwing shade at the same time by asking how much of these items were available for purchase at a regular supermarket.

“When Umno/BN claimed that the project has achieved 50 per cent progress up to 2018 (since construction began), how much of the percentage of the progress is related to the purchase of goods that have nothing to do with ship maintenance?

“We know that the progress of the project takes into account all activities including the booking of spare parts for the ship,” he said.

Rafizi also added that Latiff’s denial that Zainab was his wife and efforts to mislead the public towards a different Zainab, the CFO of Dialog Berhad, his revelation has to be true.

“Since I revealed a person named Zainab as an individual named as Latiff Ahmad’s wife in the LCS Project Forensic Report, until now, Dr Latiff has not denied that statement.

“The only statement issued was before I revealed Zainab Mohd Salleh’s true identity. Dr Latiff’s disclaimer (that Zainab Mohd Salleh is not my wife) clearly refers to another individual (i.e. CFO Dialog Berhad) intended to mislead the public.

“In the absence of a counter-statement denying that the named individual is his wife, the people can conclude that my disclosure is true. After all, it is stated in writing in the LCS Forensic Report,” Rafizi said.

He then urged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to release Latiff from his ministerial duties, and asked Bersatu leader Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to suggest a different person from his party to replace Latiff for his position.

“This is an important test to assess whether Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Bersatu are truly sincere against corruption, as he stated when he took credit for the recent sentencing of the SRC case,” he said.

Malaysia’s latest financial scandal — the RM9 billion littoral combat ships (LCS) procurement deal took a turn recently when Rafizi revealed that a woman named Zainab Mohd Salleh, who he alleged was Latiff’s wife, was involved in the LCS scandal.

Rafizi first alleged Zainab as the second wife of Latiff yesterday.

He claimed she was the owner of Alizes Marine Ltd and that the company was also named in the Panama Papers as well as the Paradise Papers, two controversial lists that were supposedly leaked and detailed how offshore companies were hiding money gained from illicit activities around the world.

Latiff was deputy defence minister from 2008 to 2013.

The Bersatu politician has denied that the Zainab reported in the media as linked to the LCS scandal is his purported second wife.