PETALING JAYA: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim handed out projects worth RM1bil each to 15 bumiputra companies when he was deputy prime minister and finance minister, says former PKR Youth chief Ezam Mohd Noor.

"These projects were given out through direct instructions from him to the contracts division in the finance ministry," he said yesterday.

Ezam said the projects were awarded under the skim kontraktor wibawa (capable contractors scheme), which exempted the firms from having to go through open tender.

"What he did when he was in power contradicts his claims that he wants to bring prosperity to all Malaysians. But Anwar is trying to divert the issue by asking his detractors to name his cronies. I categorically state that there is such a scheme and I challenge him to sue if the allegations are wrong," he said.

Ezam said he was in the midst of trying to identify the 15 firms.

He said Anwar was good at talking in two different "languages" when he was in power and now when he is not in power.