Umno jittery as NFC debacle unravels: Money siphoned to Shahrizat's family?

The National Feedlot Centre financial debacle is starting to unravel, with Umno ministers beginning to buckle under the intense fire from the PKR, which waved a swathe of documentary evidence in their faces that they found hard to deny or explain away.

In the most serious allegations so far against the ruling coalition's mismanagement of public money, PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli accused Wanita Umno chief Shahrizat Jalil of siphoning funds meant for the National Feedlot Centre to associated firms controlled by her husband and children.

Caught in a lie

Rafizi had earlier caught Prime Minister Najib Razak and Agriculture minister Noh Omar in a lie over the project to boost beef production in the country.

Both Umno leaders claimed that an RM250 million government has not been fully drawn-down by the NFC, implying that not all of the taxpayers' money had gone down the drain. The two men also insisted the projected was awarded fair and square and without favoritism to Shahrizat's family.

However, according to Rafizi, financial records showed that RM81.22 million of the RM250 million federal soft loan to NFC had been transferred to National Livestock & Meat Corporation Sdn Bhd.

He also revealed that NFC gave a discount of RM2.96 million to Real Food Company Sdn Bhd (RFC), which operates a chain of luxury restaurants owned by Shahrizat’s family under the Meatworks brand.

“For the financial year ended December 31, 2009... NLMC owed NFC as much as RM81,222,448.93 even though NLMC’s job is only to market meat,” Rafizi told reporters at the Parliament lobby on Tuesday.

“This raises questions as to whether the RM250 million loan meant specifically for the development of the feedlot centre was siphoned off to other companies owned by Datuk Seri Shahrizat Jalil’s family."

Huge amount spent on overseas tours

Both NLMC and RFC are majority owned by Shahrizat, who is also the Women's minister, her husband Mohamad Salleh Ismail, and her children Izran and Izmir.

Rafizi also pointed out that NFC had spent RM827,579 to fund overseas visits by the NFC directors. This meant that 11 per cent of the cost of each RM4,481 cow slaughtered by the NFC in 2009 had gone towards paying for the trips that were made by Shahrizat’s husband and children.

“No wonder NFC’s operating cost is 22 times higher than cost estimates made by the Department of Veterinary Services when the concept paper was put together,” said Rafizi.

NFC was established by the federal government to boost production of beef for local consumption. Malaysia wants NFC to supply as much 40 per cent of the nation's need for beef.

However, the Auditor-General’s Report released late last month said the NFC was now “in a mess”, with production in 2010 only 3,289 head of cattle or 41.1 per cent of the target set.

Noh jittery

So far, Shahrizat has kept her head down, allowing Prime Minister Najib Razak and Agriculture minister Noh Ismail to take on the queries on her behalf.

On Tuesday, Noh had strenuously denied the PKR allegations, insisting that the full loan had not been withdrawn. However, he began to U-turn as opposition leaders grilled him publicly in Parliament, finally admitting he was not sure if this was really a fact or not.

From initially insisting that 'only' RM134 million had been disbursed to Shahrizat and the balance placed in an escrow account, Noh side-stepped the intense grilling in Parliament by insisting that the soft loan had been put into an account that was “like an escrow”.

“This is an escrow account. That means there are conditions that need to be fulfilled,” Noh, the Tanjong Karang MP, had initially told Parliament while wrapping up the committee stage of Supply Bill debate in Parliament.

"The principle is clear. When this money has been approved it can’t be used simply and must receive approval from the technical committee,” Noh later softened his words to reflect that he did not know for sure if the money had really gone into the escrow account.

Malaysia Chronicle