Farhash Wafa Salvador Rizal Mubarak has issued a letter of demand to Channel News Asia (CNA) over its report on the businessperson’s alleged attempt to “take control” of NexG Berhad, which holds billions in government contracts.
The report last night also claimed Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim “ordered” Farhash to cease attempts to take over NexG, a key technology and security solutions company for Putrajaya.
Quoting corporate executives and government officials as anonymous sources, the report stated that the supposed order to Farhash, who is a former political secretary to Anwar, was issued earlier this week.
The supposed directive, which is expected to clear the way for businessperson Ishak Ismail to lead NexG instead, was reportedly conveyed just before the mass resignation of six NexG board members allegedly aligned with Farhash.
The report added that while Farhash holds no direct equity in NexG, he has a 20 percent interest in MMAG Holdings Berhad, a logistics firm in which NexG owns a 10 percent stake.
The CNA report also quoted a senior aide to Ishak confirming the latter was informed that Anwar “had advised the group led by Farhash to give up the fight for NexG”, adding that “the fight is over”.
Farhash denies claims, demands retraction
In a brief message to Malaysiakini, Farhash said the claims made in the report are “not true”.
He also furnished Malaysiakini with a copy of a letter dated today from his lawyers to CNA, in which Messrs Shankar Govinth asserted that their client “categorically and unequivocally denies the allegations, insinuations, and implications” arising from the article.
Besides denying any knowledge of the alleged campaign to take control of NexG, the legal representatives also said Farhash has not received any “instruction, directive, or communication” from Anwar over matters referred to in the report.
The letter further demanded that CNA stop disseminating the allegations, as well as retract the article and all related publications from its website and social media platforms.
The law firm cautioned that CNA’s failure to comply with the demands within two days could result in “all necessary legal proceedings… without further notice”.
Power struggle at NexG
This comes amid a storm involving high-profile individuals and recent scandals ravaging NexG, a company that holds RM2.4 billion in government contracts to supply MyKad and passports.
The NexG board suspended the powers of its executive chairperson and CEO, Abu Hanifah Noordin, last week.
The suspension was ostensibly to facilitate a probe into the appropriateness of certain investments in publicly listed companies.
This was believed to include NexG’s loss-making investments in MMAG in March 2025, the same month that Farhash became the latter’s largest shareholder, as well as in Classita Holdings Berhad, now NexG Bina Berhad.
According to The Edge, the suspension was part of a boardroom struggle after Raya Aviation Holdings acquired a 20.4 percent stake in NexG, making it the largest shareholder.
Hanifah reportedly wanted Ishak, whose sons control Raya Aviation, to become a board member of NexG, along with one of Ishak’s sons. Ishak’s daughter, Siti Nur Aisyah, is also a NexG shareholder allied to Hanifah.
While Ishak was a known associate of Anwar’s in the 1990s, the latter has claimed the two became distant 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.
Hanifah alleges pressure from ‘Mr X’
Also reportedly allied with Hanifah was Velocity Capital Berhad - the financing arm of Velocity Capital Partners Berhad, which was the company in which MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki once held shares in.
Hanifah’s plan to appoint Ishak and several others to the NexG board allegedly necessitated the removal of seven directors, including lawyer Chong Loong Men, who was previously implicated in Bloomberg’s report on a “corporate mafia”.
While The Edge reported on March 11 that the NexG board had reversed its decision and reinstated Hanifah’s functions and powers, Hanifah, in a statement the night before, claimed his suspension was because he raised objections and tried to protect NexG from “being robbed in daylight”.
He alleged that a “highly politically linked figure” whom he only identified as Mr X, together with a NexG board member, had applied pressure to several directors and key members of NexG’s management to leave the company under duress.
Hanifah also defended NexG’s investments in MMAG and NexG Bina, saying they were strategic decisions made collectively by the board at the time, and supported by proper evaluation, board deliberation, and documented rationale. - Mkini
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