PETALING JAYA: Former prime minister Najib Razak has asked former anti-graft chief Latheefa Koya, a Pakatan Harapan minister and his deputy for updates on the probe carried out on a halal meat cartel scandal, first reported in October last year.
He said Latheefa had promised to look into the matter on Nov 5, 2019 and to “update later”.
“After that, the issue was not raised again until last week. Latheefa did not update on the issue. She resigned four months later when the PH administration collapsed,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
Najib said former religious affairs minister Mujahid Yusof Rawa had said yesterday that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) was not involved and had not probed the smuggled frozen meat case.
Due to that, Najib said the public should ask Latheefa, Muhajid, and his then deputy, Fuziah Salleh, on the status of the probe in PH’s last four months in Putrajaya.
Yesterday, a news website quoted Mujahid as stating that he had instructed for a detailed probe to be carried out, including inviting MACC to probe the matter.
But Mujahid said MACC did not get involved in the matter while he was holding the ministerial post.
Najib also said the issue was not raised when he was the prime minister. “The government did not receive any official complaints on the matter,” he added.
Checks with relevant ministers in charge during his premiership also showed there were no complaints received and the media did not highlight the issue, Najib said.
“It is a big issue and the BN coalition would have taken action if there were complaints or information.”
He said after doing some research, he found out that the issue was first raised in October 2019 by the Asia Sentinel news site over the termination of the halal certification by the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) to an Australian body. Another article on Nov 8, 2019 touched on documents over alleged corruption in Malaysia’s halal certification process.
On Dec 21, it was revealed that senior officers from at least four government agencies were believed to be working hand-in-glove with a cartel specialising in bringing non-certified meat, including kangaroo and horse meat, into Malaysia and passing it off as halal-certified products.
Unnamed sources were quoted by the New Straits Times as claiming these senior officers, entrusted with ensuring that halal standards were upheld, had instead received bribes and sexual services in exchange for ensuring the cartel’s operations went undetected.
The only countries that have been certified by the Malaysian authorities for the import of halal meat are Australia, Argentina, Brazil, India, South Africa, Pakistan, Japan, New Zealand and the US, with imports handled by Jakim and the Veterinary Services Department.