SHAHRIZAT'S COWGATE : Make sure you get back EVERY SEN - Rafizi tells govt

KUALA LUMPUR - The federal government must ensure it recoups every single sen owed to it by the National Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp), PKR’s Rafizi Ramli said today, after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced a move to take legal action against the company.

Going by the agreement struck between Putrajaya and the NFCorp, Rafizi said the company owes the federal government more than the RM250 million loan on which it has defaulted.

“The government must not forget all the other things, such as the 2.5 per cent interest on the loan repayment. That works out to around RM8 million a year,” the Pandan MP said on the sidelines in the Parliament lobby.

Najib, who is also finance minister, said in a written parliamentary reply that the government is pursuing legal action against NFCorp after it defaulted on this year’s installment for the RM250 million loan, which was due January 9.

The company failed to settle the payment despite a reminder sent by Putrajaya on May 5, which finally led to the government issuing an Event of Default Declaration Notice on September 4 to terminate the agreement and initiate legal action.

Najib said the NFCorp has so far paid RM34.98 million in two installments in 2012 and 2013. The loan repayment tenure was to run from 2012 to 2028.

Rafizi was at the forefront of exposing the scandal surrounding the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) — and by extension the NFCorp which was tasked with managing the failed project - after it was highlighted in the Auditor-General’s 2010 Report.

The government’s lead accountant found that the NFC failed to achieve its target of breeding 8,000 head of cattle in Gemas, Negri Sembilan that year, aside from management failures.

The issue gained traction when it was revealed that the NFCorp ― which managed the NFC ― was operated by the family of then-Cabinet minister, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.

Sharizat was later dropped from her Cabinet post but was re-elected Wanita Umno chief. She was subsequently appointed as a special advisor to the prime minister on women’s affairs.

Shahrizat’s husband, Datuk Seri Dr Mohamed Salleh Ismail, who chairs the NFCorp, remains on trial for two counts of criminal breach of trust involving some RM49.7 million with regards to the purchase of two condominium units.

He also faces two other charges under the Companies Act. -Malay Mail