Gov't mulls legal action against NFC

The government is “studying the possibility of civil action” against the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) and taking back the RM250 million soft loan provided to the company. 

“Several discussions have taken place between the Finance Ministry, Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry and the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) to study the appropriate action that the government can take ..,” the Auditor-General's Report 2011 reads. 

It also states that the direction of the National Feedlot Centre project is “still under review” by the Finance Ministry and AGC, but that no decision has yet been made. 

The feedlot centre project had first been highlighted in the Auditor-General's Report 2010 as having fallen short of its targets.

PKR had then revealed that the company had diverted much of the soft loan to NFC's sister-companies, which allegedly purchased unrelated items like luxury condominiums, set up restaurant businesses and planned to build a supermarket in Singapore.

In response, NFC said it had parked the funds in real estate to ensure returns, while waiting for the abattoir to be built. It added that the sister-companies are part of its distribution chain and supported the core business.

NFC chairperson Mohamad Salleh has claimed trial for two counts of criminal breach of trust and two counts of contravening the Companies Act 1965. 

The charges involved transferring RM40 million to a fully-family owned NFC sister company and using RM9.7 million of that to purchase luxury condominiums in Kuala Lumpur. 

His wife and ex-federal minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil has sued PKR leaders Rafizi Ramli and Zuraida Kamaruddin for defamation.