KLANG: Parti Amanah Negara’s Mohd Fakhrulrazi Mokhtar yesterday came under the spotlight for alleged involvement in a financial scam, just two days after he was named as PKR’s candidate for Meru.
Screenshots and messages claiming that he was involved in the Financial.org scam were widely circulated via social media and Whatsapp.
When contacted today, Fakhrulrazi, who is Amanah’s deputy youth chief, said he was aware of the matter, but pleaded with the media to not make an issue of it.
He described it as a gimmick to tarnish his reputation and said he would discuss the matter with his party members to decide the next course of action.
“Please do not blow up this issue. I will seek the opinion of my party before doing anything. If needed, I will lodge a report and might take legal action (against those responsible). For now, we do not know the origin of the messages.
“I have no time for those who are spreading these allegations. Many things will pop up during the general election season, but my focus in on winning.
“I will not make any personal attack or entertain slanderous remarks. I see this as a free promotion (since I will be contesting for the Meru state seat. I will save my money and energy to campaign .
“They (those spreading the allegations) are doing me a huge favour to promote me as a candidate here.”
Financial.org describes itself as an education business and sponsors a Formula One team.
Reuters had on Jan 10 reported that Financial.org, is an unregulated British firm managing hundreds of thousands of dollars for Asian investors although it is not licensed to engage in financial transactions.
The report quoted 17 people (from China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the UAE) who said they have invested through the firm. They said they had each given between US$3,000 and US$400,000 to Financial.org to invest.
This is however not the first time where Fakhrulrazi has been linked to a criminal act. In August 2016, he was sentenced to eight months’ jail by the Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur for making a seditious speech during the #KitaLawan rally in front of Sogo Shopping Complex on Feb 21, 2015.
He was found guilty under Section 4(1)(b) of the Sedition Act.
Meru state constituency has a total of 39,091 voters, comprising 60.21 per cent Malay, 15.14 per cent Chinese, 23.98 per cent Indians and 0.38 per cent other races.
It will see a five-cornered fight in GE14. Besides Fakhrulrazi, the candidates are BN’s Khairul Anuar Saimun, PRM’s Manikavasagam Sundaram, Pas’ Noor Najhan Salleh, and independent candidate Shee Chee Weng.