KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 24 — Former defence minister Mohamad Sabu and his former deputy Liew Chin Tong has called on the Cabinet to conduct a fresh forensic audit on Boustead Heavy Industries Corporation (BHIC) and the littoral combat ship project, after the first declassified forensic audit on the firm handed to the Public Accounts Committee on Monday revealed more irregularities.
In a statement this morning they said the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) should have acted immediately on the information provided by the declassified report, questioning why no prosecutions have been made to date despite details of the audit and report that pointed to malpractice.
Both Pakatan Harapan leaders have supported the PAC's call for the Governance, Procurement and Finance Investigation Committee (JKSTUPKK) report on the six New Generation Patrol Vessels (NGPV), Integrated Logistics Support and Commercial Package Programme by the Royal Malaysian Navy (TLDM) to be declassified.
"We urge the MACC to take instant action and explain to Parliament why they have been slow to investigate, arrest and prosecute based on the cases revealed," they said in a statement.
"We want the Cabinet to establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry to probe the corruption and embezzlement in the LCS procurement and recommend the next course of action, the legislation of laws and new regulations to avoid a repeat of the malpractice found in the LCS and NGPV projects," they added.
Critics of the government have described the LCS project as a national scandal after the Parliament's panel released its report earlier this month, which revealed the government had paid RM6.083 billion for six vessels since 2013 but no ship has been delivered. The first custom-built ship was supposed to arrive in 2019.
The PAC report also raised the contention that the government ignored the navy’s design requirements and instead followed recommendations by the contractor to use a different design.
Mohamad and Liew said that MACC should have acted immediately after the PAC report was made public. The anti-graft busters in response said investigations are still ongoing.
"Since the PAC report was made public on August 4, followed by the declassification of two other (audit) reports, the MACC had the grounds and proof to probe, make arrests and prosecute individuals (named in the reports)," the two said.
To date only one top official has been charged in relation to the scandal, former Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) chief Vice-Admiral (Rtd) Tan Sri Ahmad Ramli Mohd Nor.
The 78-year-old Ramli was charged in the Sessions Court here on August 16 with three counts of CBT involving more than RM21 million in the LCS projects between 2010 and 2011 He pleaded not guilty to all three charges.
Ahmad Ramli had acted as director of management and chairman of the LCS Steering Committee (LCSSC) at the time.
