YESTERDAY (Aug 16), former Boustead Heavy Industries Corp Bhd (BHIC) managing director Tan Sri Ahmad Ramli Mohd Nor was charged in the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court with three counts of criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving RM21.08 mil.
He is accused of fraudulently approving three payments amounting to RM21.08 mil to three firms without the approval of Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd’s (BNS) board of directors.
Several media reports link the charges to the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) contract. The BNS was tasked with building six navy frigates at the cost of RM9 bil.
With an orgy of denials and the apportioning of blames by the top guns of the former Barisan Nasional (BN) government, the LCS scandal could not have been committed at the administrative level alone. It appears political, high level and systemic.
I do not cherish dragging the former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak into this scandal at this point of time. He has enough problem trying to extricate himself from SRC International’s guilty sentence for which he is now fighting his last battle in the Federal Court.
Unfortunately, just days ago he had vigorously taken to the social media to defend the scandal. He had gone to the extent of linking the award of the procurement contract to BNS to the welfare of the retired soldiers.
Most people know that Boustead Holdings Berhad is majority-owned by the Armed Forces Fund Board (LTAT) and by awarding the LSC contract to its shipyard, any profit generated would eventually go to the LTAT and the retired soldiers.
According to media reports, this contract was awarded way back in 2011 when he was the prime minister.
Behind the scene it wasn’t always like that. The soldiers’ welfare wasn’t always the determining factor.
Defence contracts were awarded in such a manner that prices could be jacked up and hefty commissions creamed off by the cronies.
Here, every prime minister and minister of defence should be truthful – at least to themselves. It is unthinkable that they were not involved or did not know.
Take for instance the blood-stained Scorpene submarine contract. Najib’s buddy, Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda, acknowledged that he received €30 mil (RM136.2 mil at current exchange rates) in fees.
The ghost of Altantuya Shaariibuu continues to haunt the perpetrators. Though Abdul Razak escaped the gallows for her murder, he was cited in a corruption case in a French court.
He was accused of disguising kickbacks of more than €114 mil (about RM528.7 mil) for “consulting work” by a firm in which he was the largest shareholder.
For Najib, it has become his habit since leading the BN to defeat in the 2018 general election to blame the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government for all the wrong things done by the BN.
For instance, he was conveniently silent on the controversial Bukit Raja, Selangor land deal that cost Boustead Holdings RM160 mil in 2012 simply to bailout two of his quarrelling associates – UMNO politician Raja Ropeah Raja Abdullah and carpet trader Deepak Jaikishan.
Deepak went on to sue him and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, but failed.
Najib had accused the Pakatan government and LTAT of apathy towards the financial problems faced by BNS but had chosen to ignore the fact that under his watch the LTAT’s performance wasn’t exactly sterling either.
An investigative audit by Ernst & Young for the period between Dec 31, 2017 and Dec 31, 2018 – on the instruction of the PH government – had unearthed significant financial irregularities and weaknesses under the leadership of Tan Sri Che Lodin Wok Kamaruddin.
The LCS scandal is a further support to the audit findings. – Aug 17, 2022
Veteran journalist A. Kadir Jasin is a former Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) leader.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
