'Akmal, who chaired Khazanah when it invested in FashionValet?'

PKR leader Najwan Halimi has attempted to jog Umno Youth chief Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh’s memory of who chaired Khazanah Nasional Berhad at the time it decided to invest in FashionValet.

This is after Akmal - in a swipe at former DAP lawmaker Tony Pua - said it was unusual to pump a large sum of public funds into a company that had made losses for five straight years, in reference to FashionValet.

“Maybe Akmal has forgotten who the Khazanah chairperson was when the exorbitant amount of public funds was given to FashionValet starting March 2018,” Najwan (above) said in a statement to Malaysiakini.

In March 2018, the Khazanah chairperson was Najib Abdul Razak, who was also the prime minister and finance minister at the time.

Khazanah and Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) had jointly invested RM47 million in FashionValet.

However, it was revealed last week that when both government-linked companies (GLCs) exited the company in 2023, its share value dropped by almost RM44 million.

No need for insults

Following this, Akmal, who is a staunch defender of Najib, called for a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) to probe the FashionValet losses.

Pua, who had described the FashionValet losses as an inherent risk of venture capital investments, had also derided Akmal as a “joker” for asking for an RCI to be formed.

Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh

In a Facebook post today, the Umno Youth chief responded by calling Pua “stupid”.

Najwan said everyone wants transparency on the matter and there was no need for insults.

“We all want transparency and should wait for the outcome of investigations into the FashionValet losses.

“But I think there is no need to be so cynical to the point of deriding and insulting others by calling them stupid and so on,” the Selangor youth, sports, and entrepreneurship exco said.

After the FashionValet losses came to light, co-founders Vivy Yusof and her husband Fadzaruddin Shah Anuar took responsibility and resigned from the company.

MACC is investigating the company over the losses while Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has ordered Khazanah to conduct an internal probe on the matter. - Mkini