Probe Najib's son for shares manipulation:Did Nazifuddin use family name to make a fortune?

DAP MP for Petaling Jaya Utara Tony Pua has urged the Securities Commission to investigate Nazifuddin Najib, the second son of the Malaysian prime minister, for share manipulation.

The 28-year-old Nazifuddin had raised eyebrows when he announced late last year an aggressive entry into the board of ailing timber firm Harvest Court Industries, triggering a sky-high jump in its share price.

Weeks later, amid complaints and calls from market professionals for stricter governance and monitoring, Naziffuddin resigned from the Harvest board but vowed to keep his stake. Even so, Harvest shares which had shot up 2,575 per cent on news of his entry crashed on learning he had quit.

Supercomnet

A second similar incident involving Supercomnet Technologies Bhd sparked suspicion that Nazifuddin was out to use his family name to make money at the expense of small retailers and punters.

News was leaked that Najib's son had been given an option to acquire 18.66 percent of Supercomnet. Two days later, Nazifuddin rejected the offer and Supercomnet’s share prices then nosedived.

“It is outright negligence on the part of both the existing shareholders and Nazifuddin in ensuring material information is made available to investors on a timely basis.  Nazifuddin’s downright bizarre U-turn on the acceptance of the ‘option to purchase’ 18.66 percent of the company, only to reject it within 48 hours is clearly suspicious and must be immediately investigated,” Tony said in a statement.

“The question must be asked as to who made tonnes of money from the entire exercise - by buying up the shares before the option agreement was announced on Monday evening and subsequently selling the shares before the rejection of the offer was announced on Tuesday morning.”

Deepak too: Simply outrageous

Apart from Nazifuddin, another personality - the flamboyant Deepak Jaikishan - too has been benefiting from his connections to the Najibs. Known as the "Toy Boy" because of his rapport with Najib's wife Rosmah Mansor,

Deepak's on-off mega oil-and-gas deal involving tiny water filter-maker Envair has stirred laughter as well as speculative interest in Malaysia's small shares market.

However, industry professionals are not amused, accusing the Najibs of bringing disrepute into Malaysia's already beleaguered share market, which is lagging far behind closest neighbor, the Singapore bourse which has managed to capture a large number or regional listings.