NFCorp: Credit card bills were ‘business development expenses’

MACC officers arrive at NFCorp’s office in Kuala Lumpur, December 23, 2011. — File pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 16 — The National Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp)’s management today admitted that money from the federally-funded project was used for credit card expenses, but maintained that these were solely for business purposes.

Earlier today, PKR alleged that Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil’s family had used nearly RM600,000 from the NFC project funds to pay for their credit card bills in 2009.

The party’s strategic director, Rafizi Ramli, said in a statement today that the Wanita Umno chief’s husband and three children, all of whom sit on the NFC board, used funds from the RM250 million cattle farming project to pay credit card bills averaging over RM10,000 per month each across the year.

In response, NFCorp executive director Wan Shahinur Izmir Salleh said that the credit card expenses were “corporate cards” and used for “business development purposes.”

“There are no personal expenses as alleged. The business development expenses by the four directors reflect the magnitude of its multi-million ringgit sales,” he said in a statement.

Wan Shahinur said that all the relevant facts were with the authorities, and added that the company would soon clarify other “misnomers and distortions that have affected public perception of the company.”

He also denied allegations that NFCorp’s directors had been paid “unjustifiable salaries”, saying that they were earning “nowhere near” the figures alleged by some parties. He also pointed out the authorities had the necessary information and bank statements for verification.

“The highly exaggerated figures first emerged from a mysterious prank blogger who had drawn the media’s attention to it. Since then, the blogger has disappeared and his erroneous post continues to be picked up by the public,” he added.

In the past two months, PKR has repeatedly accused Shahrizat’s family of abusing public funds, including spending at least RM27 million to buy land and property unrelated to cattle farming.

Rafizi said today NFC released RM182,525, RM160,673, RM127,900 and RM122,402 to pay credit card bills belonging to Shahrizat’s husband and NFC chairman, Datuk Seri Mohamad Salleh, and her three children respectively in 2009.

The women, family and community development minister took three weeks’ leave last week to allow the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to probe the allegations.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced on Saturday that NFC’s assets have been frozen but Wan Shahinur, who is Shahrizat’s son, yesterday said it was “business as usual”.

Wan Shahinur also pointed out today that the Auditor-General’s report had never stated that the NFC project was in a mess, claiming that it was a false and mischievous allegation.