http://www.straitstimes.com/PrimeNew...ry_764653.html
'More S'pore properties in KL cows-and-condos scandal'
Published on Feb 9, 2012
A showflat photo of Marina Bay Suites, where Ms Shahrizat's family is said to have bought two units. -- PHOTO: MARINA BAY FINANCIAL CENTRE
By Carolyn Hong, Malaysia Bureau Chief
KUALA LUMPUR: Embattled Cabinet Minister Shahrizat Jalil was hit by fresh allegations yesterday that her family had bought two luxury condo units in Marina Bay Suites, Singapore for over $7 million each.
This came just as Ms Shahrizat returned from three weeks' leave to allow the authorities to investigate allegations that her family-run company had misused a RM250 million (S$100 million) government soft loan meant for a cattle breeding project.
Ms Shahrizat, who has not responded to the latest allegations, said separately that she was called in by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission yesterday for questioning as part of an ongoing probe into the National Feedlot Corp (NFC).
'I am here as the wife of the National Feedlot Corporation executive chairman Datuk Seri Mohamad Salleh Ismail and I would like to clarify that I am not involved in NFC,' she was quoted as saying by The Star.
The latest allegation about Singapore condos came from the opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), which made good on its threat to keep up the pressure on Ms Shahrizat, who has refused to resign as Minister of Women, Family and Community Development.
The scandal comes at a bad time for Prime Minister Najib Razak's government as it gears up for a general election, widely expected in the next few months. Ms Shahrizat is also chief of Mr Najib's Umno party's women's wing.
PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli showed reporters two condo titles from the Singapore Land Authority which listed Ms Shahrizat's husband and their son Wan Shahinur Izran Salleh as joint owners.
He said the purchases were financed with loans from the United Overseas Bank (UOB) and Malayan Banking (Maybank), and alleged that the loans were approved because the family-run NFC and related firms held large bank deposits.
'The deposits are from the RM250 million fund approved for the operations of NFC which had failed to meet its targets,' he said in a statement. 'This is a purchase that must be investigated by police.'
Mr Rafizi said NFC had a RM180 million fixed deposit in Maybank in Singapore in 2009 but he did not know if there was a similarly large deposit in UOB.
In an immediate response, Mr Wan Shahinur Izran said through his Twitter account that the NFC has declared 'everything' to the authorities. He accused Mr Rafizi of trying to draw attention away from PKR's internal problems.
Ms Shahrizat has come under intense scrutiny since the Auditor-General's report said last October the NFC - an ambitious project tasked with making Malaysia self-sufficient in beef - had missed production targets.
The opposition, with the help of a whistle-blower, then began disclosing one damaging piece of information after another about the expenditures of the NFC, including the purchase of two luxury condo units in an upscale neighbourhood of Kuala Lumpur and one in Orchard Scotts in Singapore.
Ms Shahrizat's three children sit on the company board.
According to the Singapore land titles, Mr Rafizi said, the first Marina Bay Suites condo unit costing $7,114,000 was bought on May 27, 2010. The second one costing $7,117,000 was bought the same day.
The condo block, with a view of the Marina Bay Sands resort and casino, is close to the Brawn Steakhouse managed by the family firm.
Mr Rafizi said that based on current 25-year mortgage rates, Ms Shahrizat's family would have to pay RM173,000 a month for both units. 'The bigger question is, how does the family pay back the monthly repayments?' he asked.
He also said that based on what has been disclosed, the family assets - two Malaysian condo units, three Singapore condo units, a car and two plots of land in Putrajaya - now exceed RM62 million.
Since her return to work this week after a trip to Mecca, Ms Shahrizat has faced more calls for her resignation, including from within Umno.
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