Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said today she has applied for three weeks' leave from tomorrow as women, family and community development minister in view of a multi-agency probe on the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC).

According to Bernama , Shahrizat issued the short statement today after tendering her leave application to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

NONE "I hope the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) will be able to undertake the investigation to determine whether I was associated with or not in any of the decisions made by the government on the NFC, in which my husband Mohammad Salleh Ismail is the executive chairman," she said.

Shahrizat has been urged to quit after the scandal broke but she has repeatedly stressed that she was not involved in the company and its subsidiaries, which are controlled by her family members.

This culminated in her widely publicised speech at the Umno general assembly which saw her rilling up supporters while claiming innocence to claims that she had acted in appropriately as a minister.

The NFC drama began after the 2010 Auditor-General’s Report in October said that the company’s cattle-breeding project in Gemas, Negeri Sembilan had failed to meet its target.

Back in 2007, NFC was awarded the contract to produce beef locally in order for the country to cut down on beef imports. At the time, Shahrizat was already a cabinet minister.

Following the release of the report, PKR produced various documents, alleging an abuse of a RM250 million government soft loan.

Among others, the NFC, through its sister companies, used the funds to finance luxury condominiums in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore which critics argue had nothing to do with cattle rearing.

It was also revealed that the companies had bought a luxury car, a piece of prime land in Putrajaya while funding company officials in trips overseas.

Mohammad Salleh had claimed that the investments were all above board, but critics said that the NFC had abused the public trust by spending public funds on questionable investments

Related stories

It's Shahrizat's face-saving exit, says PKR

Gov't urged to freeze NFC assets before EGM

NFC pledges not to jeopardise investigation