How did Rafizi get minutes of board meetings, asks ex-BHIC chairman

 

Rafizi Ramli (left) claimed former chairman of Boustead Heavy Industries Corporation Lodin Wok Kamaruddin ceded control of the LCS project to Contraves Advanced Devices Sdn Bhd during a BHIC board meeting in 2010.

PETALING JAYA: Former chairman of Boustead Heavy Industries Corporation (BHIC), Lodin Wok Kamaruddin, has queried how PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli obtained minutes of the board’s meetings.

Rafizi claimed that there were plans to hide irregularities in the RM9 billion project to procure six littoral combat ships (LCS) for the navy through the engagement of two subcontractors – Contraves Advanced Devices Sdn Bhd (CAD) and Contraves Electrodynamics Sdn Bhd (CED).

The former Pandan MP alleged that Lodin ceded control of the project to CAD during a BHIC board meeting on April 28, 2010, more than a year before the government appointed BHIC subsidiary Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS) as the LCS contractor via direct negotiations.

“He might have checked the minutes of the board’s meeting. How did he get access to those documents?” asked Lodin when contacted by Malaysiakini.

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Lodin is also the former CEO of the armed forces pension fund (LTAT), a position he took up in 1985. LTAT is the largest shareholder of BHIC.

When asked to comment on Rafizi’s allegations, Lodin said he was unable to provide any details as the alleged incidents happened more than a decade ago.

“This happened 12 years ago and I can’t remember,” he said.

“I don’t have the minutes of the meeting with me.”

On Monday, Rafizi said that he was in possession of “leaked” information regarding the LCS project.

He also said that LTAT approved a 51% stake in CAD. The other 49% went to Rheinmetall Air Defense AG (RAD), a German defence contractor, which seemingly had control over CAD despite being the minority shareholder.

In the Public Accounts Committee’s (PAC) report on the LCS project which was released last Thursday, LCS’ forensic auditor implied that Lodin agreed to this decision which gave RAD “absolute power” in CAD.

The LCS project has come under scrutiny after it was found that, among other things, not a single ship had been completed although Putrajaya had already spent RM6 billion on the project.

PAC chairman Wong Kah Woh also said the defence ministry and BNS had ignored the navy’s views on the project.