KUALA LUMPUR – PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli has claimed he has evidence of a politician pocketing money from the littoral combat ship (LCS) project.
In a tweet, the former Pandan MP teased that he would expose tomorrow the name of the individual, allegedly an Umno leader, who purportedly embezzled funds from the project.
“(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.”
This follows a string of revelations made by Rafizi in recent weeks pertaining to the contentious project to deliver six combat vessels to the Royal Malaysian Navy.
On August 9, the PKR leader claimed Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS) had awarded two LCS packages worth RM1.185 billion to subcontractor Contraves Advanced Devices Sdn Bhd (CAD) before it was passed on to its associate company Contraves Electrodynamics Sdn Bhd (CED).
He alleged that the RM1.185 billion packages charged to the government were also three times more than their original value of RM397 million.
The Vibes later found, through Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) documents, that CED was set up mere 45 days before the contract was awarded to the firm.
In a separate exposé on Tuesday, Rafizi alleged that CED made a RM178 million claim to the government on the same day it was appointed as a second-layer subcontractor to undertake the two work packages.
On the same day, former navy chief and former BNS managing director Tan Sri Ahmad Ramli Mohd Nor was charged with three counts of criminal breach of trust involving the LCS project.
He was accused of fraudulently approving payments amounting to a total of RM21.08 million to three different firms without the approval of the BNS board while he helmed the company. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Yesterday, Rafizi alluded that Ramli was merely an “ikan bilis” in the LCS scandal and that the charges against him were smokescreens for bigger sharks supposedly involved.
Noting the complications behind delays in the RM9 billion project, he claimed that individuals from the navy could not have possibly thought of such schemes. – The Vibes, August 21, 2022
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