Former economy minister Rafizi Ramli criticised two ongoing MACC investigations into his alleged financial misconduct when he was in the cabinet, accusing those behind the allegations of resorting to reckless and implausible slander.
In a video posted on his Facebook today, the former PKR deputy president also accused Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of allowing this to flourish, via his allies.
In the clip, Rafizi outlined two separate MACC investigations against him. The first involves a government deal with British semiconductor giant Arm Holdings, where he is accused of rushing through an agreement that allegedly cost RM1.1 billion.
The second allegation involves a large solar energy project by UEM Lestra, where he is accused of steering a contract worth RM2.5 billion toward a company with ties to him.
Unimpressed, Rafizi accused local influencer and rapper Ariz Ramli, better known as Caprice, of peddling the narrative, which he branded as slander.
"This has become yet another piece of slander peddled by Caprice and parroted by loose-tongued individuals, claiming that 'Rafizi is involved in a RM2.5 billion corruption case.'. All of this has surfaced abruptly within the space of less than a week.
"Unlike other cases, MACC has produced no evidence whatsoever. There has been no seizure of hundreds of millions, no gold bars. There is no evidence of hundreds of millions parked in my accounts.
“Not a single shred of evidence exists, yet all of this is being zealously hawked as headline news. This is what happens when desperate parties resort to slander," he said.
The Pandan MP also sarcastically remarked that he is now accused of involvement in scandals which has a combined value exceeding that involving former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.
"Najib was convicted when RM2.3 billion entered his personal account from 1MDB funds. I’m now accused of involvement in two financial scandals totalling RM3.6 billion. Blimey, even more than Najib!
"Those who crafted this slander script failed to consider how utterly implausible this all appears.
“Slander invariably ends in overkill because there is no real story, whatever fabrication is conjured must be grossly exaggerated to appear damning, and in time, it becomes overkill," Rafizi added.
On Tuesday, Bernama reported that MACC has opened an investigation into an RM1.1 billion agreement between the government and a foreign company.
Citing unnamed sources, the report said that the investigation follows complaints from several NGOs alleging that the agreement was hastily arranged and biased, and could have financial implications to the government.
A source reportedly said that MACC had taken several documents related to the agreement from the Economy Ministry on Feb 13, to assist in the investigation.
‘We defended Anwar then, but now…’
In dismissing the allegations, Rafizi pointed out that he and his fellow generation X citizens were no strangers to such tactics, having lived through the very same playbook during the reformasi era, when "slander descended into overkill”.
"A mattress was lugged out to display semen stains. All manner of salacious stories became daily fodder," he said, referring to Anwar's first sodomy trial in the late 1990s.
"We, as ordinary citizens, took to the streets to defend Anwar, who was himself a victim of slander born of political vengeance.
“And yet, Anwar now permits this very brand of overkill slander to be peddled daily by his supporters, because this time, it is being wielded against someone he himself has openly admitted he despises," Rafizi claimed.
While Anwar has not openly expressed contempt towards Rafizi, the rift between the two has manifested largely through actions and pointed gestures rather than explicit statements.
The rift became publicly visible at the PKR congress in Johor, when Rafizi walked past Anwar on stage without shaking his hand.
‘No procurement role’
In a statement on Tuesday, Rafizi said MACC had “suddenly become active” in probing allegations of misconduct and corruption during his tenure as economy minister, centring on two major national policies - the Silicon Vision Programme and the National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR).
Rafizi argued that the timing of the MACC probe - following his call for MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki's suspension after allegations reported by Bloomberg - demonstrated the risk of abuse of power.
Rafizi explained that negotiations for the Silicon Vision collaboration with Arm involved several stages.
These ranged from discussions between ministry officials and Arm to inter-ministerial negotiations involving then-international trade and industry minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz and Second Finance Minister Amir Hamzah Azizan, as well as engagements between Anwar and Arm CEO Rene Haas and SoftBank owner Masayoshi Son.
Rafizi stressed that the Economy Ministry was a planning ministry and did not manage procurement or contracts.
“The collaboration with Arm fell under the International Trade and Industry Ministry and was signed by the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida).
“Any payments were processed by Mida and screened and approved by the Finance Ministry,” he said, adding that the draft agreement was reviewed by the Attorney-General’s Chambers before cabinet approval.
As such, Rafizi dismissed claims that the Arm agreement was rushed. He added that there was “not a single piece of evidence” that public funds were misappropriated.
“There is no evidence that I took money, no evidence of funds entering my accounts, and no financial proof whatsoever,” he stressed.
On the NETR, Rafizi said the roadmap did not involve public funds, procurement, or project implementation by the economy ministry.
He explained that one policy under NETR, allowed private parties to develop renewable energy projects and supply green power directly to industry without going through Tenaga Nasional Berhad.
As a result, companies including UEM Lestra, a subsidiary of UEM owned by Khazanah Nasional Berhad, announced large-scale renewable energy investments.
Rafizi said UEM Lestra’s RM2.5 billion, 750MW project in Segamat, Johor, was a private-sector initiative undertaken via a joint venture with I-Squared Capital, with energy to be sold to ESR Group Limited.
On that note, Rafizi said he would present further details in his podcast this week and would give Ariz an opportunity to apologise for defamation; failing which, he would initiate legal action.
The podcast airs at 10pm tomorrow. - Mkini
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