KUALA LUMPUR: Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu today assured that the financial irregularities in the Armed Forces Fund Board (LTAT) will be tabled in Parliament and revealed to the public, in the wake of the sharp drop in dividends announced yesterday.
Speaking to reporters after a media appreciation event here, Mohamad, popularly known as Mat Sabu, said LTAT dividends for the financial year 2018 were low as they needed to cover inaccuracies in accounts from previous years.
“The auditor-general has said that LTAT’s audit reports for 2016 were inaccurate. We had to correct the accounts.
“The excess dividends paid out in the past amounted to over RM500 million. All this needs to be corrected so this is the real report,” he said.
He was referring to LTAT’s announcement yesterday of a 2% dividend, a steep drop from that of previous years.
He said some inappropriate investments had been made by LTAT including the over-RM500 million takeover of the Automated Enforcement System.
He said this saw LTAT deprived of RM500 million which could have been used to generate some RM30 million in interest had it been deposited in the bank.
He added that LTAT would announce its plans on Friday, including for correcting its accounts, withdrawing inappropriate investments and reinvesting them elsewhere.
“They are confident that in three years the (financial) situation will improve once the mistakes are corrected,” he said.
Giving an example of an inappropriate investment, Mohamad said a senior LTAT official had once held a large number of shares in certain companies with links to LTAT’s investments.
“So we want to fix the situation,” he said.
On the Tanjung Piai by-election, Mohamad who is also Amanah president, said it would be tough for Pakatan Harapan to win.
He added that outstation voters were unlikely to return.
“If this was a general election, they would be willing to spend RM5,000 or RM6,000 to travel,” he said. - FMT
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