Izzah, Saifuddin in trouble over NFCorp remarks

Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) vice president Nurul Izzah Anwar and party secretary-general Datuk Saifuddin Nasution might be taken to court over defamatory remarks in relation to the National Feedlot Corporation Sdn Bhd (NFCorp) case.

According to NFCorp lawyer Wan Shahrizal Wan Ladin, the company and its chairman Datuk Dr Mohammad Salleh Ismail are suing both for uttering remarks based on falsehoods from flawed conjectures of confidential banking documents, provided by PKR strategy director and MP for Pandan Rafizi Ramli.

Rafizi had alleged Mohamad Salleh had bought eight units of condominium at KL Eco City with public funds channeled to NFCorp.

Meanwhile, Rafizi is to answer in the Kuala Lumpur High Court for wrongful allegations made against Mohamad Salleh and NFCorp on 21 accounts of lying, distorting and misinterpreting confidential banking information at a news conference.

“Nurul who was also present at the same news conference of 7 March 2012, and who echoed in support of the slander relying on Rafizi’s conjectures without proper verification of the information, will now face the same fate,” said Wan Shahrizal.

“Her statement puts her and Saifuddin Nasution in dire consequence as the information she had counted on, were fabrications and were no where near any truth,” he added.

“Nurul’s statements would be taken to mean that Datuk Dr Mohamad Salleh had allegedly misused the company’s funds to buy the eight units of KL Eco City office property lots, that he was allegedly untrustworthy, a criminal, greedy and had used his wife’s position to gain wealth.”

Mohamad Salleh claimed that Nurul’s remark implied that he had allegedly used government and public funds to gain personal wealth and to live an affluent lifestyle, or had conspired with NFCorp to cheat or abuse public funds.

NFCorp’s lawyers said the case against the PKR vice-president and secretary-general was filed on 24 December 2013.

Mediation talks between both parties were held today and will continue on 9 June 2014.

If settlement is not reached, the matter would proceed for case management on June 17, 2014 and thereafter, to a full trial before Justice Datuk Hue Siew Kheng.

Mohamad Salleh is seeking for general damages, exemplary damages, aggravated damages, interest, costs and other appropriate reliefs from the court.