KUALA LUMPUR – A woman who was alleged to be former special functions minister Datuk Abdul Latiff Ahmad’s second wife has submitted a notice of demand for an apology against current Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli for purportedly slandering her.
Astro Awani reported that this is the first time Zainab Mohd Salleh has addressed the media through a lawyer to provide an explanation and take action against Rafizi, alleging that he had falsely labelled her as the wife of Latiff.
Latiff was embroiled in the controversy over Malaysia’s littoral combat ship (LCS) project.
Zainab showed statements by Rafizi, which were posted on his social media platforms between August 22 and November 1, alleging her to be the former Mersing MP’s “second wife”.
However, the 56-year-old refuted the notion and claimed to have no relations with an individual named Latiff, whether privately or professionally.
She added that the report on a review of the LCS project prepared by Alliance was for the internal use of Boustead Heavy Industries Corporation and not meant to be made public.
Yusfarizal Yussoff, Zainab’s lawyer who spoke on her behalf, said that a few pages in the report were redacted.
Yusfarizal said that the document audited by Alliance clearly had a notice to readers that stated it had relied on verbal and documentary representations given by related parties, whereby Alliance could not assess their validity.
“Therefore, content in the document stating my client is the wife of Latiff is untrue and was used to slander her,” he added.
Zainab also implied that Rafizi’s actions were motivated by personal or political gain, as the matter was brought up around the 15th general election campaign period.
As such, she has given the PKR deputy president 14 days to issue an apology, as well as the proposal of appropriate damages.
Last year, Rafizi accused Latiff and Zainab of being involved in the LCS scandal, claiming that the latter was a shareholder of an offshore company that allegedly transferred funds from the project to accounts overseas in fraudulent transactions totalling RM23.37 million.
However, Latiff vehemently denied the allegations that Zainab was his wife. – The Vibes, March 24, 2023
