KUALA LUMPUR (July 8): An investigation by anti-graft authorities into the littoral combat ship project was still ongoing as at February, according to a report by a parliamentary committee.
The criminal investigation opened by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) was still ongoing, while a different probe into governance was completed, according to a report issued by the bipartisan Public Accounts Committee on Wednesday.
“The governance [investigation paper] has already been completed and we conducted an advisory session for Mindef in August 2023,” MACC Senior Assistant Commissioner (Investigation Division) Chang Ching told the committee in a proceeding in February 2026.
The MACC said in August 2022 that probes into individuals linked to the project have been completed and handed to the Attorney General's Chambers.
Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd managing director Tan Sri Ahmad Ramli Mohd Nor was charged in the same month with three counts of criminal breach of trust linked to the littoral combat ship project, but was granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal in 2025 on mental health grounds.
Initially slated for delivery in 2019, the project has suffered delays and cost overruns from its original RM6 billion amid allegations of mismanagement. No vessels were delivered despite the government disbursing RM6.08 billion.
The number of vessels was then reduced to five from six while the cost ballooned to RM11.22 billion. The long delays forced the government to step in and acquire the contractor Boustead Naval Shipyard for nominal RM1 in 2023.
The project’s overall progress stands at 78% as at end-May this year, behind the scheduled 85%, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said in a written parliamentary reply dated July 7.
A total of RM8.46 billion, or 75% of the project’s new value, has been spent, he noted.