NFC: Where Did RM81.4 Million Go?

'Directors have taken out RM81.4mil from NFC'
Nigel Aw
11:50AM Mar 2, 2012

Directors of the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) have transferred close to RM81.4 million from the company account to those of external companies as of 2009, DAP national publicity chief Tony Pua said today.

The amount, he said, is held by private companies under the directors without any guarantee  that the sum would be returned to NFC.

"The directors have emphasised that all these companies are either subsidiaries or associated with NFC.

“But the accounts since 2007 showed NFC has no subsidiaries," he said at a press conference at the DAP headquarters in Kuala Lumpur this morning.

The NFC's 2009 audit report states:"Included in other receivables and deposits of the company is an amount of RM81,324,745 (2008: RM32,275,493) due by companies which are associated with certain directors of the company.

"The amounts are unsecured and have no fixed term of repayment."

Pua said: "This means that we don't know if we can get the money back."

Audit reports for 2008 and 2009

Reiterating that lending directly to company directors is against the Companies Act 1965, Pua speculated that the amount may have ballooned to over RM100 million after 2009, the accounts of which  have yet to be published.

The audit reports of 2008 and 2009 listed  the company directors as Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil’s (right) husband Mohamad Salleh Ismail and their three children, namely Wan Shahinur Izran Mohamad Salleh, Wan Izzana Fatimah Zabedah Mohamad Salleh and Wan Shahinur Izmir Mohamad Salleh.

The other five appointed directors were A Manaf Hussin, Mohd Mokhtar Ismail, Mat Ali Hassan, Raj D Ratnakumar and Norzam Md Nor.

However, Ratnakumar and Norzam resigned in 2009 while Alias Mohd Yassim was appointed in May 2010.

“Given that this amount of money was funded by taxpayers, I call upon NFC to immediately disclose every single cent of the RM81.4 million.

“There is a great need for accountability, money from the government cannot be used for anything or hidden away, it must be transparent and taxpayers must be informed,” he said.

If NFC fails to immediately disclose all the private companies that have drawn money from NFC, Pua said, he will push this matter before the Public Accounts Committee which will meet on Mar 5.

“I will make sure NFC is at the top of the agenda... I will demand a list of other receivables from who and to where,” he said.

According to its audit report from LM Chan & Associates, NFC had in 2007 suffered a loss of RM1.94 million, followed by RM7.04 million and RM10.94 million in 2008 and 2009, respectively.

For 2008 and 2009, NFC’s revenue cost exceeded its gross revenue, thus suffering a loss even before other operating costs and expenses were deducted.

As of 2009, it had piled up a total loss of RM19.93 million.

The audit reports also showed that the directors had forked out a total of RM1.11 million for the National Feedlot Project, however, the remaining was from the RM250 million government soft loan granted to NFC.