Datuk Fix-it sends SOS: Fears his safety and being forced to be "scapegoat" for Shahrizats

UPDATED In a shocking turn of events, PKR leaders revealed that Shamsubahrin Ismail, the shadowy Datuk Fix-it figure in the RM250 million NFC debacle, has asked for help in getting out of a deadly crossfire, claiming he was being “made a scapegoat" for the family of Umno minister Shahrizat Jaili and to allow other top Umno leaders to get away scot-free.

"We now have proof of a shocking and massive cover-up by the NFC," PKR vice president N Surendran told Malaysia Chronicle. 

A prominent human rights lawyer, Surendran told a press conference on Monday, he has been appointed by Shamsubahrin to act on his behalf. Given the complexity of the case, Surendran is expected to reveal the information in phases as soon as PKR has been able to verify the facts batch by batch.

PKR leaders also warned that Shamsubahrin's life may be in danger. Although, he is still under remand, the Malaysian lock-ups are notorious for custodial deaths.

Umno quagmire turns ugly

Indeed, there is more than meets the eye in the entire NFC fiasco. Apart from blatant corruption, it is a quagmire of feuding Umno warlords all wishful to quickly wash their hands from the fiasco while at the same time pointing the finger at each other in a bid to escape responsibility. Key players in the NFC debacle not only include Umno Women's chief Shahrizat Jalil and family, but also Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, Prime Minister Najib Razak, former premier Abdullah Badawi and Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin.

Behind the huge sums of money is also a shadow play, with second-tier leaders adding to the fire by trying to gain from Shahrizat's ouster from power. Despite a fightback, it would be too much for Shahrizat to expect to hold on to either her Cabinet position, her pasrty post as Women's chief or to be nominated again to stand in the Lembah Pantai seat. Speculation is rife that FT minister Raja Nong Chik, who is also the Lembah Pantai Umno division chief, is staking a claim on the parliamentary seat currently held by PKR's Nurul Izzah Anwar.

"Umno is trying to deny everything and whitewash the entire episode. They will just say there was no such corruption no matter what proof is offered by PKR to the public. It is like Custer's last stand. They have no other option. But this is precisely what will kill them in GE-13. Shahrizat's refusal to take responsibility for NFC and Najib's prodding of Raja Nong Chik for the Lembah Pantai seat have jointly created Umno's Armageddon," an Umno insider told Malaysia Chronicle.

'I was pressured repeatedly'

According to Surendran, NFC chairman Salleh Ismail had allegedly asked his client to bribe the police to close the corruption investigation into the NFC, where the family of Umno minister Shahrzat Jalil was accused of misappropriating a huge chunk of a RM250 million government soft loan awarded to develop the cattle breeding project.

Distributing a police report made previously by Shamsubahrin to journalists, Surendran pointed out the paragraphs where Shamsubahrin said that he had received “calls and SMSes pressuring me to bribe police to close the NFC case.”

“I have proof in the form of an SMS. I was not willing to do so although I was pressured repeatedly. I only replied saying I would try to sort out the matter,” the report said.

Shamsubahrin also accused the NFCorp chief of “cheating me by appointing me as Corporate Advisor and Consultant” in November 2011 which he said was a false appointment.

Charged with cheating Salleh

The 45-year-old Shamsubahrin has been charged with cheating Salleh of RM1.76 million in fraudulent consultancy fees. Last week, the police slapped on two further counts of cheating.

Shasubahrin has said the “charges and investigations against me are baseless.”

Interesting to note that prominent citizen Megat Najmuddin Megat Khas had in a recent email broadcast to select Umno leaders told of how an NFC lawyer had told him that a top NFC officialhad  paid money to a "conman" to influence police investigations.

Megat has confirmed the email came from him and though he makes clear that the NFC lawyer may not be telling the truth. Nonetheless, it provides third party substantiation for the premise that a top NFC official had tried to bribe the police through Shamsubahrin. Megat's email was obtained and made public by PKR leaders.

Meanwhile, Salleh Ismail, the NFC chief and Shahrizat's husband, has denied truing to bribe the police. He also said Shamsubahrin was neither a relative nor has he ever been an NFC employee.

Malaysia Chronicle