Nong Chik denies any stake in offshore firm

KUALA LUMPUR, April 9 — Minister Raja Datuk Nong Chik Zainal Abidin today refuted reports that he owned shares or was a director in an offshore company based in the British Virgin Islands, a popular tax haven for the rich.

The federal territories and urban well-being minister had been among several prominent Malaysians named in a leaked document publicised by Washington-based International Confederation of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), according to a report in news portal Malaysiakini last week.

“For the record, I was and am not a director and/or shareholder of any other offshore company,” Raja Nong Chik (picture)said in a statement.

The politician, touted to be the Barisan Nasional’s candidate for the urban Lembah Pantai federal seat in Election 2013, was reported to be a prominent shareholder and director of RZA International Corporation, a British Virgin Islands entity incorporated on August 21, 2007 via Singapore.

The company is a mirror of Malaysian entity Kumpulan RZA Sdn Bhd, a firm established in 1997 dealing in real estate and equities investment, according to the leaked documents, which allegedly showed Raja Nong Chik had set up the offshore entity with his father, Raja Zainal Abidin Raja Tachik, a number of his sisters and brothers as well as other family members.

The minister had reportedly told Malaysiakini that RZA International was set up by his father, who turns 96 this year, for the purpose of holding legitimate offshore investments for the family.

But in his statement today, the Umno leader accused the news portal of having “twisted” and misquoted him previously.

Raja Nong Chik stressed that his father had gifted him, his mother, his siblings and his nephews shares in RZA International before he took office as minister.

“In any event, none of the potential offshore investments materialised,” he said, adding that his father had ordered RZA International closed in December 2008.

The 60-year-old was appointed a senator in April 2008 during the Abdullah administration and only joined Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Cabinet on April 10, 2009.