Prove it! Rafizi tells Salleh

Onus is on Salleh to prove his denial of purchasing property in KL Eco City, says PKR strategic director.

PETALING JAYA: PKR strategic director, Rafizi Ramli, wants to know how National Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp) Sdn Bhd chairman, Mohamad Salleh Ismail, funded his private investments in KL Eco City if he didn’t leverage on NFCorp’s public funds.

Salleh yesterday denied riding on NFCorp’s fixed deposit of RM7.2 million to purchase eight shop office units at the luxurious KL Eco City in the Lembah Pantai constitutency.

He also filed a police report against Rafizi for distributing confidential banking details of 21 entities, its directors and shareholders to the media on March 7.

An unfazed Rafazi said that the onus to prove that denial rested on Salleh’s shoulders as the bank statements clearly showed that all eight properties were charged as collateral to the bank for loan taken.

“The documents are clear and certain, and I am standing by them,” he told FMT. “We put forward the proof and they have taken advantage of it to intimidate us.”

“If Salleh says he didn’t take a personal loan, then how did he fund those properties? He never denied buying the properties nor did he deny the authenticity of the bank statements. All he said was that he didn’t take out the loans.”

Intimidation tactics won’t work
Rafizi then raised the question whether the police report was NFCorp’s latest stunt to fish for more documents so that it could press more charges against him.

He, however, assured that such intimidation tactics would not deter him from revealing more details of the NFC scandal in the coming months.

“I’m in too deep to stop now,” he laughed. “NFC has denied everything that we have revealed so far, so this denial is nothing new. But I will not comment further, I’ll just wait for Salleh to produce evidence of his statement.”

Rafizi had previously pointed out that the financial statements showed a close link between NFCorp’s funds and the purchase of these properties units as both were with the same unnamed bank.

KL Eco City’s commercial units are currently valued at RM1,000 to RM1,100 per square foot, putting the market value of the eight shop offices at over RM12 million.

NFCorp filed a complaint with Bank Negara last month against the bank that provided Rafizi the bank documents for breaching the Banking and Financial Institutions Act 1989 (BAFIA).

Rafizi has said that he would leave it up to the police to investigate the report against both him and the bank.