KUALA LUMPUR – Special Functions Minister Datuk Abdul Latiff Ahmad has denied through a Facebook post that any of his wives are named “Zainab binti Mohd Salleh”, or that any of his family members are involved in the procurement of the six littoral combat ships (LCS).
He also chided that he loves eating fish but not “sharks” seeing that he is Mersing’s representative, which is by the sea in Johor.
His Facebook post came after heavy speculation of his involvement in the controversial LCS project, where PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli implicated the minister and “wife Zainab Mohd Salleh”.
Yesterday, Rafizi said prior to revealing Zainab’s true identity, Latiff’s denial that she was not his wife was clearly in reference to another individual who is the chief financial officer of Dialog Bhd, to confuse the public.
“With no denial or counter statement denying that the named individual is his wife, the people can conclude that my disclosure is true.
“After all, this is stated in writing in the forensic report of the LCS project,” he said.
Rafizi had previously revealed that the offshore-incorporated Alizes Marine Ltd, allegedly linked to Latiff, had been paid about RM210 million to supply spare parts for the LCS project between 2011 and 2015, as well as for other uncompleted works.
Documents online showed that Zainab – who was noted to be Latiff’s wife in the forensic report on the project – was the shareholder of the firm, which allegedly made fraudulent transfers from the LCS project to accounts overseas.
Latiff had denied that the woman named is his spouse, although Rafizi later on Tuesday provided further evidence to prove their relationship.
Rafizi said Latiff’s failure to deny new evidence of his relationship with Zainab showed that the claim that the two are married is true. – The Vibes, August 26, 2022