Hard to trace money trail at NFC, says defendant’s witness

KUALA LUMPUR (March 18): There was no way to determine that the sum of RM172.2 million in National Feedlot Corp Sdn Bhd’s (NFC) operating accounts was money derived from the RM250 million loan granted by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) then, according to the defendant’s first witness Andrew Heng, a partner in the firm Ferrier Hodgson MH (FHMH).  

“NFC was operating and trading at that time (between 2008 and 2011), they were accruing revenue. There is no way to trace that money went to the defendants and no way to trace if they had used the money for purposes outside NFC,” Heng told the Court yesterday.

Furthermore, he testified that the defendant Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Salleh Ismail, who is the former chairman of NFC, and the family had income from other companies.

In contrast, Price Waterhouse Malaysia (PwC Malaysia) senior director Lim San Peen, the last plaintiff witness who also testified today, told the court that RM10 million of the loan money was not utilised by NFC in accordance with the facility.

He claimed that the money was used to make part payment for two townhouse villas in One Menerung, which were ultimately owned by the Salleh family.

“A total sum of approximately RM107.6 million of the loan monies was transferred from NFC to companies owned by the Salleh family. Some of these loan monies were ultimately utilised to finance the purchase of real properties and to cover their personal expenditure,” Lim said.

He said that these transfers took place between July 2008 and December 2011.

PwC noted in its findings that it could not establish a direct connection between the MoF loan and the purchases of real estate. However, the audit firm pointed out that the overlapping period between the fund transfers and the purchases and payments indicates that the expenses “could have been funded by the MoF loan”.

How the money was spent

Lim gave a breakdown on Monday on how NFC’s money was used improperly by the Salleh family through companies they owned.

Based on PwC’s findings, he said, RM3.4 million was used to finance 2 parcels of land in Putrajaya by National Meat and Livestock Corporation (NMLC), while RM4.2 million was spent on the purchase of One Menerung residences.

The family allegedly shelled out RM842,902 to pay for the purchase of a condominium unit in Marina Bay Singapore among others, which Lim testified is against the purpose of the loan.

Additionally, a sum of RM1.7 million from the loan was utilised as part payment for a four-storey shop lot in Solaris Mont Kiara.

Salleh is the husband of former Wanita Umno chief Tan Sri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, formerly the Minister of Women, Family and Community Development. Besides NFC, also named as defendants in the suit are the couple’s three children and seven companies owned by the family.

They were accused of misappropriating and wrongly using RM118 million out of the RM250 million loan from the Government.

The Government is also seeking a declaration from the court to have Mohamad Salleh’s family be personally liable for the debt repayment, the RM118 million allegedly misappropriated from the loan and secret profits arising from it, as well as Putrajaya’s entitlement to claim equitable titles to the properties bought by the defendants using the misappropriated sum.

The trial will resume on June 21.

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