LANGKAWI: Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu accused the previous government administration of misleading the people when making announcements on the financial status of the Armed Forces Superannuation Fund Board (LTAT).
He said the board's accounts did not reflect the true state it was in, stopping short of coming out and saying that the previous government had "cooked the books".
He said former auditor general Tan Sri Ambrin Buang and his team members were still combing through the accounts, adding that this may take some time.
Ambrin chairs the Governance, Procurement and Finance Investigating Committee set up by Putrajaya in May last year.
"We have to seriously audit the accounts. When we make the announcement, then you will see how the announcements made (by the previous government) before this did not tally with internal nor external audits," he told reporters on the final day of the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace exhibition 2019, here.
Mohamad said this when asked to comment on rumblings from LTAT shareholders that the board had yet to announce dividends to be paid out this year.
He said there would be some delay on the announcement of dividends due to the investigation currently being carried out.
"We will need some time before we can present (the findings of the investigation)," he said.
The investigation committee was reported to have found irregularities in the LTAT accounts, allegedly indicating that the previous government had intefered with the accounts.
Among the issues was a RM550 million payment involving the Automated Enforcement System (AES) for speed traps when evaluation conducted on the system placed its value at just RM250 million.
Earlier this month, the Defence Ministry lodged a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) report regarding the matter.