Only 'big shark' has authority over LCS project - Rafizi

The former Royal Malaysian Navy officials who have been charged or are expected to be charged in the littoral combat ship (LCS) issue are not the masterminds behind the scandal, said PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli. 

This was something planned by the “big shark” who has authority over the LCS project, including appointing a contractor, determining project specifications, making advanced payments and having cash channelled abroad prior to the ships’ delivery, said the former Pandan MP.

“The way I look at it, a former navy official has been charged and more will be charged in the next three weeks. Some may look at them as greedy ex-navy officers, but the problem is this is above their pay grade.

“Layer by layer, as the truth is being unfolded, we look at how a fake company imitated a legitimate company, documents were forged, and purchased goods were taken away while invoices went nowhere.

“The establishment of several offshore companies to be involved in the LCS project cannot be the job of ikan bilis (small fry), it involves the big shark.

“Offshore companies are dangerous due to confidentiality rules that protect (the owners) and those who possess the paper share certificates are deemed as the real owner of the company,” he told a crowd of 350 while launching the “Ayuh Malaysia” campaign at Wangsa Maju, Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

More details in store

He said former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, former defence minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, and Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein cannot feign ignorance of the LCS project. 

“Next Monday, I will provide the details of the RM1.7 billion equipment reportedly kept in storage. Some of the items have nothing to do with defence, some can be bought from the 7-Eleven convenience store,” he said. 

On Aug 18, Rafizi claimed to have sighted an internal investigation by Boustead Heavy Industries Corporation Bhd (BHIC) on the LCS project, alleged that RM192 million was siphoned off by phoney firms.

He said the LCS subcontractors had paid €43.69 million (RM210 million) but a large chunk of the payment went to a Malta-incorporated company known as Alizes Marine Limited.

“An invoice would be sent by one company but an instruction would be given to pay to an account registered by another company with a similar name,” he had alleged.

According to the Public Accounts Committee’s (PAC) report, Zahid had on May 26, 2011, greenlit the navy’s request for Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd to construct six LCS based on the Sigma design.

However, in less than two months, Zahid changed his mind and instead followed contractor Boustead Naval Shipyard Bhd’s (BNS) recommendations to use the Gowind-class design owned by Naval Group despite repeated protests by the navy.

BHIC is the parent company of BNS.

Meanwhile, Rafizi said the cabinet’s move to declassify the governance, procurement, and finance investigation committee’s report on the LCS only caused factional infighting in Umno to intensify.

“I would like to ask who will be the prime minister-designate of Umno/BN? It appeared that Najib and Zahid want the post too, apart from (current PM) Ismail Sabri Yaakob,” he said. 

“There is no guarantee that Ismail Sabri will be named as the next prime minister following the Johor state election, where BN’s menteri besar candidate Hasni Mohammad was dropped,” he said.

80pct dissatisfied with economy

While noting that Umno/BN appears confident in winning the 15th general election, Rafizi, however, pointed to a study which found that as of July, about 80 percent of respondents were not satisfied with the current economic situation.

“A study I conducted since 2016 showed that public sentiment on the economic situation sank to a record low on July 31. This was not the case even during Najib’s era, where 65 percent were dissatisfied with the economic situation,” he said.

Rafizi said the study showed that public sentiment is currently at a similar level as before the 2018 general election, where Umno/BN only garnered 35 percent of the popular vote.

“As of July 31, we asked the same question, and only 20 percent said they were satisfied with the economic situation while 80 percent said they were unhappy,” he said.

Rafizi urged the public not to squander the opportunity to vote out the ruling coalition that was implicated in corrupt practices. 

“In our truck campaign (nationwide) we will explain the LCS issue in detail. We will also caution them that if they are not doing anything, five years from now we may see five more scandals similar to the LCS where the loss may increase to RM60 billion instead of the RM6 billion (in LCS),” he said.

“We don’t know by then how many corrupted leaders will be created,” he said. - Mkini