PKR shows ‘proof’ NFC official tried to bribe cops

PETALING JAYA— PKR disclosed today an email which it claims proves a National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) official had tried to bribe CCID officers probing the cattle scheme for alleged abuse of funds.
The email was allegedly sent by a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) advisory board member to a large private group on December 31, 2011, following a dinner with the NFC’s lawyer.
According to the email, the lawyer told the advisory board member how the NFC official had been tricked into paying money to a “conman” — understood to be Datuk Shamsubahrin Ismail (picture) — to allegedly influence the ongoing police probe into the publicly funded project.

Shamsubahrin was recently charged with cheating NFC chairman Datuk Mohamad Salleh Ismail of RM1.76 million in fraudulent consultancy fees.
“He (the lawyer) told us about this conman’s story, about how this sweet-talking guy managed to convince his desperate client to part with his money so that he can get the police to be ‘less brutal’ in their interrogation!
“It’s sad to see how stupid one can get when you are stuck ‘between a rock and a hard place’!” the email said.
The MACC advisory board member went to say that the official may now be open to a charge of being an accomplice in an attempt to bribe the police, adding that anti-graft body could now intervene in what was previously a police matter.
PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli reiterated the party’s stance that MACC should investigate the NFC for allegedly trying to bribe CCID officers, in line with the opinion given by its own advisory board member in the email.
“This statement, which comes from someone who holds a high position, cannot be taken lightly,” he told reporters at PKR headquarters here.
“Therefore, MACC needs to seriously look into this private statement by [the advisory board member], especially as he himself believes there is an element of bribery... which would allow MACC to take immediate action.”
Rafizi added that PKR will be making another report to MACC at its office in Shah Alam at 3.30pm today “because it is as clear as crystal there is an element of bribery”.
Police are probing the NFC for possible criminal breach of trust following PKR’s allegations that millions in federal funds meant for the cattle raising scheme had been misappropriated.
The opposition party first latched onto the issue after the NFC, run by Mohamad Salleh, made it into last year’s Auditor-General’s Report for failing to meet production targets.
Mohamad Salleh, a former food science head at Universiti Pertanian Malaysia, is husband to federal minister and Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Jalil.
PKR has since made several revelations relating to the scandal, including NFC’s purchase of two luxury condominium units in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, and the alleged use of project funds to pay for Shahrizat and her family’s personal expenses.
It also claimed there was a transfer of resources to unrelated companies in Singapore, as well as the purchase of a Mercedes-Benz CLS350 for RM534,622 and two plots of land in Putrajaya’s Precinct 10 for RM3,363,507.
PKR further alleged that some RM10 million had been diverted towards the purchase of a luxury condominium unit in Singapore for Shahrizat’s family.
Shahrizat has tried to deflect attention by stating she is “only the wife” of the national cattle farming project’s chairman and has nothing to do with the NFC.
The senator has faced calls to quit as minister from within Umno, including from influential former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

-Themalaysianinsider