KUALA LUMPUR: The embattled National Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp) yesterday named Public Bank, one of the country's largest and most profitable banks, for allegedly revealing personal and corporate account details of its directors.
The company said in a statement that the case was one of the major violations under the Banking and Financial Institutions Act 1989 (BAFIA).
Parti Keadilan Rakyat strategy director Rafizi Ramli, who made a series of exposes against NFCorp since late last year, was also implicated.
Rafizi had revealed details of the company's transactions involving part of a RM250 million government soft loan to set up the National Feedlot Centre (NFC). He alleged that NFCorp and its directors had invested in property, including high-end condominiums, office space and land.
The statement was released soon after NFCorp director Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Salleh, the husband of former minister and Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, met Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) officials to follow up on a complaint on the BAFIA violations, which NFCorp filed on March 30.
Twenty-one alleged violations were lodged with Bank Negara yesterday against Rafizi and Public Bank Berhad. The complaints mainly relate to Rafizi's press conference on March 7 when he claimed that Mohamad Salleh had taken a personal loan from a bank to buy eight office units in KL Eco City.
In a separate statement, NFCorp denied taking up the loan. It said the loan was "offered" by the bank, but the company did not take up the option.
"Rafizi, being a member of the Malaysia Institute of Accountants, should have been familiar with laws that prohibit public distribution of private and confidential bank account documents," the statement read.
The statement also stated Mohamad Salleh's allegation that Rafizi had "colluded" with "certain employees" of the bank to obtain internally generated bank documents.
NFCorp said Public Bank had failed to respond to its complaint filed on March 30.
NFCorp lawyer Datuk Seri Dr Shafee Abdullah said after the meeting with Bank Negara officials that BNM will investigate the complains. The company also said that it planned to sue Rafizi for defamation over the KL Eco City allegations.
Mohamad Salleh has been charged with two counts of Criminal Breach of Trust (CBT) at the High Court last month.