A storm involving high-profile individuals and those linked to recent scandals ravaged NexG Berhad - the company that holds government contracts worth RM2.4 billion to supply MyKad and passports.
Last week, the company's board suspended the executive powers of its executive chairperson and CEO, Abu Hanifah Noordin, ostensibly to facilitate a probe into the appropriateness of certain investments in publicly listed companies.
This is believed to include NexG’s investments in MMAG Holdings in March 2025 - the same month that prominent businessperson Farhash Wafa Salvador Rizal Mubarak became the latter’s largest shareholder - as well as in Classita Holdings Bhd, now NexG Bina Bhd.
Both investments were loss-making.
However, the board reversed its decision and reinstated Hanifah’s functions and executive powers, The Edge reported today.
Earlier, The Edge reported the suspension as part of a boardroom struggle after Raya Aviation Holdings acquired a 20.4 percent stake in NexG, making it the largest shareholder.
According to the business paper, Hanifah had wanted businessperson Ishak Ismail - whose sons control Raya Aviation - to become a board member together with one of his sons.
Ishak's daughter Siti Nur Aisyah is also a NexG shareholder allied to Hanifah.
Also reportedly allied with Hanifah was Velocity Capital Berhad - the financing arm of Velocity Capital Partners Berhad, which is the company MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki once held shares in.
Hanifah, Siti Nur Aisyah, and Velocity Capital together hold at least a 10 percent stake in NexG.
Ishak was a known associate of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in the 1990s. However, Anwar has claimed the two had drifted apart after 1998.
In 2014, former foreign minister Anifah Aman alleged in court that Anwar had used Ishak as an intermediary to offer bribes for the then-Kimanis MP to defect and topple the BN government after the 2008 general election. Both Anwar and Ishak denied the allegations.
Move against 7 directors
The Edge's report asserted that Hanifah's plan to appoint Ishak and several others to the board necessitated the removal of seven directors.
Those on the chopping block included lawyer Chong Loong Men.
Previously, Bloomberg's report on the so-called "corporate mafia" alleged that businesspersons colluding with the MACC to shake down business rivals would at times engage Chong's services.
Chong's lawyers had, in a reply to Bloomberg, denied being part of the "corporate mafia" as well as any allegations of wrongdoing.
Chong has since resigned from the board and as NexG executive director on March 8, citing personal reasons.
The board takeover is the agenda of a proposed extraordinary general meeting called by Hanifah and allies.
In a statement on Tuesday night, Hanifah claimed that his suspension was because he had raised objections and tried to protect NexG from “being robbed in daylight”.
He alleged that the board had wanted to subcontract two key technological components of NexG’s secure identity ecosystem, namely the Chip Operating System (COS) for Secure ID Applications and the QR Code Digital Identity Integration Project, to a competing company.
He also alleged that a board member and a company adviser were interfering with procurement and technical operations.
‘Politically-linked Mr X’
Hanifah further alleged that a “highly politically-linked figure” whom he identified only as Mr X, together with a board member, had applied pressure to several directors and key members of NexG’s management to leave the company under duress.
“I was made aware that representations and threats had allegedly been made to certain individuals that they could face investigations by the authorities, including potential police and anti-money laundering-related actions, should they refuse to step down from their positions,” he claimed.
Meanwhile, Hanifah claimed NexG’s investment in NexG Bina was also influenced by Mr X.
He also revealed that NexG Bina and MMAG’s accounts had been frozen. Both companies later confirmed that the freeze imposed by the police had been in effect since November as part of an anti-money laundering probe.
Hanifah also defended the investments in MMAG and NexG Bina, saying they were strategic decisions made collectively by the board at the relevant time, and supported by proper evaluation, board deliberation, and documented rationale.
Hanifah’s statement was followed by a flurry of activity on Wednesday.
The six remaining board members Hanifah had wanted to axe resigned en masse, with Hanifah back on the board.
“The reinstatement follows further deliberation by the board and after taking into consideration the recent progress of the review process,” the company said in a Bursa filing today. - Mkini
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