Saturday, November 5, 2022

Zahid threatens Raja Petra with legal action over LCS kickback claim

 

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi hoped Raja Petra Kamarudin can come up with proof and documents to support his allegations against him over the littoral combat ship project.

PETALING JAYA: Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has threatened to take legal action against blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin for accusing him of receiving millions of ringgit in kickbacks in connection with the troubled littoral combat ship (LCS) project.

He challenged Raja Petra to back his accusations with evidence of the alleged corruption.

“I hope Raja Petra, before making any accusation, will come up with proof and documents to support his allegation.

“Otherwise, I will sue him for defamation and I will ask my lawyers to take legal action against him,” he said, according to The New Straits Times.

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The former Bagan Datuk MP said the blogger should “face the music” as it wasn’t the first time he had made such a baseless accusation.

On Wednesday, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) said it was ready to meet Raja Petra over his allegation that Zahid received kickbacks amounting to S$20 million (about RM67 million) from the LCS project.

MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki told FMT the agency would let Raja Petra propose a location for their meeting, as suggested by the blogger in a video posted on his website on Nov 1.

Raja Petra had claimed the former deputy prime minister received the money in eight staggered payments between 2012 and 2013 and that the transactions were facilitated through money changers in Singapore and Malaysia.

Raja Petra also claimed to have documents and evidence linking Zahid to the scandal.

In the video, the blogger extended an invitation to MACC to go to the UK, where he is believed to be based, to meet him so that he could hand over the documents.

The LCS project came under parliamentary scrutiny over the non-delivery of six ships contracted by the defence ministry.

In its report, the Public Accounts Committee noted that not a single ship had been completed to date despite the government having paid RM6.08 billion. - FMT

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