‘Perak’s MB Inc under BN spent freely despite losses’
IPOH: Mentri Besar Incorporated (MB Inc) under a previous management suffered RM40mil in losses within three years, but still splurged on overseas retreats and posh vehicles.
This was discovered in an audit by Jeffrey & Co, as requested by the state government, said Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu.
He said since the revival of MB Inc in 2012 by the previous state government, the losses from 2012 to 2015 were estimated to be at RM40mil.
Ahmad Faizal said the current state government requested for an audit by Jeffrey & Co.
“They carried out the audit from 2012 to 2015, while the audit for 2016 and 2017 is still being done,” he said in his winding-up speech at the state assembly sitting here yesterday.
Ahmad Faizal claimed that the previous management had failed to carry out any audit since 2012.
“What is more shocking is that despite recording losses, the previous management approved bonuses, spent on retreats, some of them held overseas, and also purchased luxury vehicles,” he said.
This led to the new management that was appointed to take steps to reduce operation costs by up to 50%, and to review agreements which would not benefit MB Inc and the state government, he said.
Ahmad Faizal said MB Inc’s commitment fee of about RM50mil was also used by the previous management, and the balance of less than 5% was left in its coffers.
He said checks on several agreements showed four projects with third parties had failed to proceed.
Earlier, he said checks on several government- linked companies’ (GLC) reports showed leakages from previous management agreements which were not only biased but detrimental to the GLCs.
Besides MB Inc, Ahmad Faizal said the Perak State Agriculture Development Corporate Group also showed its profit margin decreasing by 23% in 2012 to 5% last year.
“Checks also showed that its longterm debts increased from RM3mil in 2012 to RM100mil in 2017. Its cash reserves also declined from RM230mil in 2012 to RM105mil last year,” he said.