[UPDATED] LCS exposé: Rafizi claims Latiff Ahmad, spouse are involved

KUALA LUMPUR – The name of a senior government politician who had served as former deputy defence minister, and his apparent second wife became the latest to be implicated in the littoral combat ships (LCS) scandal.  

PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli alleged that Datuk Abdul Latiff Ahmad, who is currently special functions minister, and apparent spouse Zainab Mohd Salleh had been heavily involved in the LCS project.

Latiff, however, has denied that Zainab is his wife.

“I stress that Zainab Mohd Salleh is not my wife as stated in news (about the LCS project),” he posted on Twitter hours after Rafizi’s expose.

Rafizi added that further exposés would be made on the heavy-handed involvement of the couple in several other defence contracts in the immediate future.

In a statement today, Rafizi revealed that Zainab is the shareholder of Malta-based Alizes Marine Ltd, an offshore incorporated company that allegedly transferred funds from the LCS project to accounts overseas, in fraudulent transactions amounting to RM23.37 million.

He said Alizes Marine’s existence was confirmed through documents in the Paradise Papers database. A check on the website also found that Zainab is the company’s shareholder. 

The Vibes has reached out to Latiff to get his comments on Rafizi’s claims.

He said Alizes Marine’s existence was confirmed through documents in the Paradise Papers database. A check on the website also found that Zainab is the company’s shareholder. 

According to Rafizi, Zainab is also the shareholder of another offshore company registered in Malta, Intralogistics Ltd, which has shares in Alizes Marine Labuan.

Citing findings from an internal investigation into the LCS scandal, Rafizi noted that Alizes Marine, which was appointed as technical negotiator spare parts supplier, had been siphoning millions of ringgit from the LCS project by invoicing the government for unimplemented works. 

He went on to confirm Zainab’s association with Latiff by citing an excerpt from the LCS internal probe report, which he said explicitly stated their relationship. 

Latiff, who is Mersing MP, was deputy defence minister from 2008 to 2013, a ministry then helmed by current Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

He was an Umno member before joining Bersatu in February 2019. 

“Checks found that the embezzlement of public funds from the LCS project has been carefully designed and dragged on for years. 

“I can also confirm that there are various other forms of defence contracts involving Latiff, and that LCS is not the sole project involving companies linked to him. 

“There are other several national defence projects that similarly involve Alizes Marin and other companies owned and controlled by Latiff or his wife.” 

Rafizi said the embezzlement of LCS funds using companies linked to the then deputy defence minister was not a coincidence, and that this was why he had been demanding an explanation from both Zahid and former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak. 

“It’s impossible for such an embezzlement scheme involving projects managed by both Najib and Zahid could take place without their knowledge. 

“A scandal as big as this couldn’t have happened without a mastermind from among the Umno leaders who made major decisions at the time,” he said. 

Rafizi’s exposé today follows a string of revelations made by the PKR man in recent weeks pertaining to the contentious project to deliver six combat vessels to the Royal Malaysian Navy.

Yesterday, he had teased the fact that he had evidence of a politician pocketing money from the LCS project and that the person’s identity would be revealed today. 

“(This is to) prove that the misconduct involved politicians too so that not only the ‘ikan bilis’ (anchovies) will be made the scapegoat. This culture of embezzlement has been Umno’s DNA.” – The Vibes, August 22, 2022