Former economy minister Rafizi Ramli has been implicated in yet another scandal, this time involving alleged bribes worth RM500,000.
However, Rafizi, his purported proxy, as well as NexG Bhd, have separately denied the allegations.
The allegations, published in an article uploaded today by a site dubbed Malaysia Corporate, claimed that Datasonic Group Bhd (now known as NexG), which holds major government contracts, had tried to lobby Putrajaya for extensions to its existing works related to passports and MyKad.
The article alleged that an executive of NexG had sought Rafizi’s support to convince Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to grant the extension, with the individual said to have “threatened” the government in demanding a lengthier extension.
The contract for passports and MyKad is under the purview of the Home Ministry, not the Economy Ministry.
Malaysiakini is withholding the name of the executive mentioned, pending a reply.
The article claimed that as part of alleged dealings to secure Rafizi’s backing, the NexG executive had met with businessperson Harizan Haris, who was purportedly a close associate of the then-economy minister.
The NexG executive and Harizan are also alleged to have met an official attached to the Economy Ministry at the time.
Malaysiakini has contacted the ministry for comment.
The article further claimed that in August 2023, Harizan issued NexG an invoice for a non-existent project, with the invoice supposedly used as a cover to transfer RM200,000 in two transactions to Rafizi via the businessperson.
The article also alleged that RM300,000 in cash was given to Harizan to give to Rafizi at an unspecified time.
Rafizi is said to have solicited the funds for the PKR party election.
During the PKR polls held in 2025, two years after the money was allegedly solicited, the party’s initial position was to retain both Anwar and Rafizi as its top two leaders.
However, a campaign for Nurul Izzah Anwar to contest as deputy president was then initiated in early May that year.
The article then sought to link this with NexG - then Datasonic - being awarded a vending machine project under the Economy Ministry for the People’s Income Initiative (IPR) programme.
In 2024, it was reported that the vending machine rental project was carried out via open tender, with several vendors picked.
Additionally, the article claimed that the company executive had also given Rafizi RM40 million from the proceeds of a corporate takeover of another firm.
Rafizi: I don’t know these people
Responding to the allegations via a social media post today, Rafizi labelled the site which published the article as a “ghost blog”, insisting that the article’s “narrative style” is aimed at slandering his reputation.
Claiming that he had never met Harizan, Rafizi said that the first time he heard the businessperson’s name was on Dec 2 last year during a meeting with a PKR minister.
“During the meeting, (the minister) insinuated that I had a corruption case that would cause me great embarrassment if exposed. I asked him which case it was and what the evidence was.
“This story was the one mentioned, and I was shown an alleged payment invoice from NexG to me. I said: ‘Who issues a receipt for a bribe? That would be unintelligent,” Rafizi said.
Malaysiakini is withholding the minister’s name pending a response.
The Pandan MP described the invoice shown to him by the minister as one which recorded an RM500,000 payment from Harizan and the company associated with him (Company B), stressing, “I have never known these people.”
“In all likelihood, this is a typical Putrajaya tale - businesspeople looking for an opening and scammers making all sorts of claims.
“When there is a critic like me, these characters are brought together to manufacture a slanderous narrative,” Rafizi added.
He also issued a reminder to fellow PKR members.
“To those in PKR who still remember our past struggles, do not forget that it was extreme defamation which led us to join PKR.
“Do not let desperate and excessive defamation now cause the people to reject PKR and Anwar.”
He said he will further address the allegations against him in his next podcast on Friday.
Last Friday, during his podcast featuring Malaysiakini, when asked if the “corporate mafia” had ever approached him when he was a minister, Rafizi did say that NexG had sought a meeting in the early days, but that he had declined to meet them.
Harizan denies meeting Rafizi
When contacted by Malaysiakini, Harizan also denied ever meeting Rafizi, with the businessperson insisting that his dealings with the government were purely tied to matters surrounding a different project with yet another ministry.
“We have no direct business dealings with (NexG), which only asked us about IT-related management services linked with our field.
“I am not a very rich director, nor have I ever been involved in politics. I am willing to provide my full cooperation (to any potential investigations) as I am not at all involved (in the alleged dealings),” he said.
Malaysiakini has contacted the ministry mentioned by Harizan and is awaiting a response.
Harizan also denied ever taking funds from the NexG executive or channelling money to Rafizi, emphasising that he has no knowledge of any matters concerning the Economy Ministry’s vending machine project.
NexG says no political payments
In a written response to Malaysiakini’s queries, NexG said that while it had met with representatives from Company B as part of its corporate objectives to explore business opportunities, it has “no recollection” of meeting Harizan.
“At the time of such engagements, we were not aware of any alleged associations between any individuals from (Company B) and Rafizi.
“We categorically state that discussions, if any, were strictly of a business nature and did not involve or relate to any political projects or initiatives,” it added.
It also asserted that NexG neither authorised nor made any payments to any individual “for political purposes”, noting that any payments made were “strictly for legitimate business services rendered” in accordance with proper corporate governance and internal approval processes.
Last week, Rafizi said the controversies engulfing NexG, which has been linked to the “corporate mafia” scandal, are more than just a business dispute or money-driven corporate drama.
In a 40-page document released on March 24, businessperson Victor Chin had detailed a chronology of events depicting him and his business partners in NexG allegedly facing threats and intimidation in a supposed bid to “hijack” the public-listed IT solutions provider. - Mkini
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