[UPDATED] Police seize Rafizi’s phone in probe into claims on minister’s ‘wife’

KUALA LUMPUR – The authorities should not limit its investigation into the littoral combat ship (LCS) scandal to merely allegations concerning Datuk Seri Abdul Latiff Ahmad’s “wife”, but also into the billions of ringgit being siphoned.

PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli said he hopes a probe will similarly be initiated into Latiff following a police report lodged by Johor Baru MP Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir against the special functions minister on Monday over Latiff’s alleged involvement in the scandal. 

Rafizi said this before making his way into the Sentul district police headquarters here today, after he was called in for questioning over claims he made linking Latiff to one Zainab Mohd Salleh.

This follows a separate report lodged by the minister’s aide, Sayed Ahmad Muizzuddin Al Sayed Mohamad, who demanded criminal action against the former Pandan MP over his accusations.  

“I respect that the authorities are only doing their jobs,” Rafizi said, before stepping into the police station.

“But I hope police will (strike a) balance between Latiff’s report (against me), which only focuses on his wife Zainab, and the overall issue concerning the rakyat, involving billions of ringgit being siphoned.

“There are two parallel reports. We hope the authorities will take action with the same exact swiftness with how this issue (over Zainab) is being handled when Latiff made his report.

“After all, more than RM1 billion has been certified missing based on findings of the forensic audit. It was not my own document, but one by the government that had even gone through the cabinet.”

Rafizi had previously, on several occasions, claimed Zainab – the woman who was implicated in the LCS forensic report for allegedly siphoning millions of the project’s fund – is the spouse of Latiff. 

Addressing Latiff’s continued denial over the matter, the PKR leader said today that his statements were based on the forensic report, which had been declassified by the former’s own government. 

Rafizi also stressed the importance of authorities initiating an investigation into the stolen funds, saying only such action would allow the uncovering of criminal elements. 

He drew similarities in the LCS case to the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) mega scandal, saying that wrongdoings involving the state investment arm were only able to be unearthed once a probe began. 

“Whatever the process, I hope that this is only the beginning of a bigger probe by all authorities, including the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission. 

“We have gone through the same process with 1MDB. At first, of course, there was nothing. “But when the investigation was underway, that was when they were able to indenture money trails, among others. 

“And along the way, questions pertaining to Zainab will be answered. All I can say is that we have done sufficient background work to confirm it is in the public’s interest that we decided to go public with this issue.” 

‘I’ll respond on Penang undersea tunnel project next week’

On a separate issue, Rafizi said he will address accusations by Umno – that he is avoiding exposing details of the Penang undersea tunnel project – next week.

Rafizi, who had originally said he would respond to the issue yesterday, claimed he was forced to place the issue on the back burner due to a busy schedule, as well as to give priority to the LCS scandal.

“The media knows how long it takes to do these works. When police asked for this (LCS) case to be expedited, and because of my busy schedule, I had to postpone my response against Umno.

“If I say I will answer, it means I will answer. But the priority is LCS. We postponed (the undersea tunnel project) to next week.”

On Thursday, Rafizi said Umno is attempting to shift its goal post to the controversial tunnel project after it failed to respond to his exposés surrounding the party members, including scandals involving 1MDB, Tabung Haji, Felda and LCS.

“They can answer these, so now they are busy asking me why I haven’t exposed the Penang undersea tunnel issue. I’ll answer tomorrow (Friday).”

The project had implicated DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng, who was accused of abusing his power during his tenure as Penang chief minister and Penang Development Corp’s tender committee chairman. – The Vibes, September 3, 2022

Additional reporting by Sonia Randhawa