THE Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) will declare its findings in the RM9 billion littoral combat ship (LCS) scandal soon, its chief commissioner Azam Baki said.

Azam added that the investigation papers had been passed to the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

“The investigations are in the final stages and the results will be announced soon,” Azam told Malay daily Berita Harian.

“This is because we will have to discuss it with the Attorney-General; only after that can we make an official statement as this is a sensitive case.

“Sometimes, I’m not in the position to talk about things that people need to know.”

The RM9 billion littoral combat ships project awarded to Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS) has been beleaguered with cost overruns and delays, without a single vessel delivered to date.

In a report, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the government’s due diligence on BNS had failed to detect the company’s financial weaknesses.

“As such, the government had to pay an upfront fee of RM1.36 billion to BNS, which is against government protocol,” PAC stated.

“BNS’ poor financials were caused by abuse of power and mismanagement. As of 2018, BNS owed the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) company RM801 million and another RM956 million to banks.”

According to PAC, BNS had appointed two other companies to procure equipment from the OEM company, causing cost overruns.

The original schedule stated that five LCS should have been delivered to the ministry by this month.

PAC also said that the terms and conditions of the LCS contract was unfavourable to the government as payment for the project was based on development and item procurement instead of the actual construction progress of the ships. – August 6, 2022.