PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli dropped a bombshell yesterday, claiming that a company owned by Amhari Efendi Nazaruddin, an aide of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s, had received RM2 million from Najib.
Rafizi based this on alleged leaked documents relating to the fund flows of SRC International, which were uploaded onto the blog sprminsider.blogspot.com, and subsequently blocked by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).
The Pandan MP claimed that it showed how Najib had allegedly spent a tranche of money he purportedly received from SRC International, totalling RM27 million, through intermediaries on July 8, 2014.
The RM27 million also appeared in a document held up by attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali in January last year when he cleared Najib of wrongdoing in the SRC case, on the grounds that the prime minister was not aware the funds entered his bank accounts.
According to Rafizi, Orb Solutions Sdn Bhd, which is 50 percent owned by Amhari, received RM2 million from Najib’s personal bank account on Aug 27, 2014.
The remaining 50 percent of the company is held by Har Kok Kit, a former senior executive in Astro.
Malaysiakini has checked the Maybank bank account number which allegedly received the fund and can confirm that the account does indeed belong to Orb Solutions Sdn Bhd.
According to the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM), Orb Solutions Sdn Bhd describes its nature of business as “web management and communication strategies solutions”.
While the RM27 million in the prime minister’s personal bank accounts may have originated from SRC, recipients of funds from the prime minister are not deemed to have committed any offence if they were for legitimate transactions.
‘In on 1MDB-IPIC talks’
This is the third time in less than a year Amhari’s name had cropped up in the public domain.
Just last month, Singapore’s Straits Times named Amhari as among the figures involved in the 1MDB negotiations with Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC).
The negotiations concluded with Malaysia agreeing to pay US$1.2 billion to IPIC on top of assuming US$4.8 billion in principal and interest payments on two bonds, which effectively releases IPIC from guaranteeing those bonds.
Malaysiakini on April 26 contacted Amhari about his role in the negotiation but he referred all queries to the prime minister’s press secretary Tengku Shariffuddin Shah Tengku Sulaiman.
“I am not entitled to respond,” he had told Malaysiakini.
Malaysiakini has, since yesterday, attempted to contact Amhari repeatedly in light of Rafizi’s claim but has yet to receive a response.
The 40-year-old was previously also in the news when Najib’s official android and iOS app was launched in October last year.
The developer of the app was listed as Resonate Digital Sdn Bhd, the ownership structure of which was identical to Orb Solutions Sdn Bhd, with Amhari owning a 50 percent stake.
Amhari is listed as a fellow of the US-based Eisenhower Fellowships.
Eisenhower Fellowship described Amhari as someone who had worked directly with the prime minister since 2009 on national economic policies and the annual budget.
“He is also a permanent member of the Malaysian Economic Council, and the online strategist for the prime minister’s presence on the internet,” it said.
Amhari was listed as the economic division director of the Prime Minister’s Office.
Last year, Amhari received the Panglima Jasa Negara which carries the title “datuk” from then Yang Di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah for his contributions in the public service.
During the awards ceremony, Amhari was listed as a special officer to the prime minister.
MKINI
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