NFC bought RM10mil S'pore condo registered in the name of Shahrizat's family

NFC bought RM10mil S'pore condo registered in the name of Shahrizat's family

Two luxurious condos at One Menerung, Bangsar, a super-class Mercedes Benz, 2 plots of upmarket residential land, million-ringgit discounts and cash transfers to family-owned firms do not seem to be enough for Umno minister Shahrizat Jalil.

According to PKR, more money was siphoned out from the RM250mil NFC cattle livestock project to buy another luxury condominium — this time in Singapore at a cost of SGD4.1mil or RM9.9mil - registered in the names of her husband and children.They demanded that Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is also the Umno president, break his "golden silence" and immediately freeze NFC's operations to prevent further money from being siphoned out of the country.

“What is even more nauseating is that the unit was registered directly under the names of Shahrizat’s family members, instead of the company... they were jointly registered under (husband) Mohamad Salleh Ismail and their two children Izran and Izzana,” PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution told a press conference on Tuesday.

Top range condo at Orchard Scotts Residences

The 2,282-square feet condo in Singapore is one of the largest available units at the posh Orchard Scotts Residences on Anthony Road. It was purchased on January 27, 2010.

PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli said that unlike the Bangsar condos, the Singapore unit was purchased through Real Foods Company (RFC) and the National Meat and Livestock Corporation (NMLC), both of which are firms owned by Shahrizat’s family members.

Rafizi pointed out that PKR had previously supplied a paper trail showing direct transfers of funds from NFC to RFC and NMLC.

“What we really have to question is how a loss-making business like the NFC could afford to make four real estate purchases — almost RM30 million of real estate... two pieces of land and two purchases of condominium units," said Rafizi, who was also at the press conference.

“Plus, on the meagre salary of a minister? And the family’s businesses are all running into losses... I have full confidence that in that."

Bangsar, Singapore

After an initial denial, Shahrizat's husband Salleh - the NFC executive chairman - was forced to admit that NFC purchased two condominium units at the luxurius One Menerung in Bangsar for a staggering RM6.9 million each. He claimed the purchase was for investment reasons, saying that the units were rental cash cows.

Salleh was slammed for his facetious remarks, although Umno leaders including Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin rushed to support Salleh's explanation. But neither Umno men could explain why a national project to build a cattle livestock industry so as to enable Malaysians access to cheap beef should invest in property instead of satellite farms and the like.

The project was awarded to Shahrizat's family in 2006 and she has insisted she has no knowledge of how it was being run. She also denied her family got the project because of her ministerial position, although her Umno colleagues have ridiculed her claims. Several leaders including former premier Mahathir Mohamad have called on her to quit before she was "chased out" from the party.

According to Saifuddin, the Singapore condo purchase confirmed PKR’s earlier revelations that NFC funds were being channeled out to finance the family's Singapore-based companies Meatworks (Singapore) Pte Ltd and Global Biofuture Pte Ltd. PKR had revealed financial records showing that the firms currently had debts with the RFC amounting to RM939,495 (Global Future) and RM2,416,815 (Meatworks).

Saifuddin also revealed a copy of an email correspondence between Izran and one Donna Yong, who purportedly manages the family’s Meatworks business in Singapore, discussing funds to manage the luxurious eatery.

“For the duration of three months between October and December 2010, Shahrizat’s family transferred an estimated S$530,000 or RM1.3 million from the government’s funds to manage its personal business in Singapore,” he said.

“If this happened throughout 2010 and 2011, it is likely the funds have surpassed RM10 million for the business in Singapore.”

Malaysia Chronicle