FORMER navy chief Ahmad Ramli Mohd Nor claimed trial today to three counts of criminal breach of trust involving RM21 million in connection with the littoral combat ship (LCS) scandal. 

The ex-managing director of Boustead Naval Shipyard (BNS) Sdn Bhd was charged this morning at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court before judge Suzana Hussin.

“I plead not guilty,” he said in court today to all three charges.

The 78-year-old, who became navy chief in 1996, was charged under section 409 of the penal code.

The prosecution recommended bail at RM500,000 and that the accused surrender his passport.

Suzana approved the bail amount and ordered Ramli to hand over his travel documents to the court.

Ramli, who appeared calm in court, is accused of abusing his position as director of BNS in offering contracts to companies without the approval of the board.

According to the charge sheet, Ramli, between July 26, 2010 and March 25, 2011, had approved a payment of RM13.5 million to Setaria Holding Ltd without knowledge of the BNS board. 

He is also charged with approving a payment of RM1.4 million to JSD Corporation Pte Ltd, also without approval of the BNS board.

Ramli is also accused of approving a payment of RM6.2 million to Sousmarin Armada Ltd.

All three offences were allegedly committed at BNS in Kuala Lumpur.

Ramli served the navy for 35 years before retiring in 1998.

Deputy public prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin asked for the trial to take place on November 24. 

Last week, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) released its report on the Defence Ministry’s purchase of six LCSs from BNS through direct negotiations.

Although the government has already paid the manufacturer RM6 billion, not a single ship has been delivered.

According to the original schedule, five LCSs should have been delivered to the ministry this month. 

Recently, Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said on Facebook that the government will put the littoral combat ship project back on track as decided by the cabinet. 

He said negotiations with the contractors and banks are ongoing.

The LCS project came to light in 2011 when BNS received a letter of award from the Defence Ministry to supply six patrol vessels with a contract ceiling of RM9 billion.

The news was picked up by several anti-government blogs, which accused the government, led by then prime minister Najib Razak, of trying to make money from the project. 

Zaid Ibrahim, who led the now-defunct People’s Welfare Party, had revealed then that three agents were paid more than RM10 million for “technical support” to acquire the ships from French-based company DCNS.

“Why can’t the navy determine what is required by the navy instead of these consultants, unless this is necessary to channel corruption money?” Zaid had said some 10 years ago.

Without revealing his source, Zaid said the consultants, two of whom were based in Europe, received payment through foreign currency accounts in the Singapore branches of Standard Chartered Bank and JSD Corporation Pte Ltd from 2010 to April 2011.

“Somebody has to stop this practice… as this is the reason our security is compromised. The army and naval forces have no say over the purchases and we pay too much for equipment that don’t work,” Zaid had said.

He added that if BNS had wanted to buy from DCNS, it could have gone straight to the supplier and not through middlemen, hiking the final price. 

“Until today, we still don’t know how the price of the six vessels had gone up from RM6 billion to RM9 billion,” Zaid said. – August 16, 2022.