Malaysia\u2019s Brewing \u2018Corporate Mafia\u2019 Scandal<\/p>\n
Rival rogue businessmen use different enforcement units for hostile\ntakeover<\/p>\n
By: Wong Chin Huat<\/p>\n
Malaysia, having suffered through the global financial scandal\ninvolving Malaysia\u2019s sovereign investment fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd\n(IMDB) that brought down one of the world\u2019s longest ruling parties,\nUnited Malays National Organization (UMNO), and sent its former Prime\nMinister Najib Razak to jail, is now embroiled in another affair,\nallegedly involving rival \u201ccorporate mafias\u201d in which predatory rogue\nbusinessmen have used the threat of two different elite law enforcement\ninstitutions\u2019 investigations to assist their acquisition attempts.<\/p>\n
The affair has snowballed and looks likely to cause further cracks in\nPrime Minister Anwar Ibrahim\u2019s political base. At the center is a\nlucrative IT company named NexG Bhd, formerly Datasonic Group Bhd, a\nmajor security-based solutions provider specializing in national\nprojects like passports and the MyKad, Malaysia\u2019s mandatory smart\nnational identity card. There are reports swirling that both the\nMalaysia Anti-Corruption Commission and the Royal Malaysian Police\u2019s\nAnti-Money Laundering (AMLA) unit are being used to benefit different\nfactions of the corporate mafia via blackmail to force divestiture of\nshares in billion-dollar businesses, involving national security,\nbiometric technology and foreign labor trade.<\/p>\n
The man in the eye of the storm \u2013 or one eye \u2013 is Azam Baki, the\nchief of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), accused in a\nBloomberg News 6,000-word investigation of assisting a cabal of\nbusinessmen in seizing control of local companies under threat of\nviolence and protecting them from prosecution. Azam has been\ninstrumental to Anwar Ibrahim\u2019s anti-corruption drive, which some have\ncriticized for targeting the premier\u2019s enemies, including the children\nof former Prime Minister Mohamad Mahathir, and letting off his\nallies.<\/p>\n
So far, Azam has escaped any retribution stemming from the minutely\ndetailed Bloomberg report, with most observers saying he is too valuable\nto Anwar to face real scrutiny. Bloomberg reported that Anwar is\nblocking the release of a report of an investigation into Azam\u2019s\nshareholdings amid speculation that the probe may have uncovered\nownership of at least RM14 million worth of shares he is said to hold.\nBloomberg also speculated that Azam, whose tenure at MACC is unlikely to\nbe extended amid pressure for his immediate dismissal, is now seeking\nappointment as a senator, a position that would require Anwar to\nrecommend him to Malaysia\u2019s king, the Agong.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, Victor Chin Boon Long, the rogue businessman\nexposed in the February Bloomberg report as allegedly selecting\nvulnerable companies, then having the MACC carry out investigations to\nforce them into takeovers, himself claimed to be a victim of the\ncorporate mafia. His allegations have dragged in politicians directly\nlinked to Anwar and the AMLA unit.<\/p>\n
Chin, who by all accounts is no angel, allegedly having used the MACC\nto inflict fear and intimidation on takeover targets, asserted that 500\nbank accounts held by his associates were frozen by the AMLA unit to\nforce them to surrender shares for free, and more explosively, that last\nOctober 18 an MP in Anwar\u2019s People\u2019s Justice Party (PKR) requested RM10\nmillion (US$2.287 million), of which he paid RM9.5 million to resolve\nhis legal problems. Chin threatened to name the MP if he didn\u2019t return\nthe RM9.5 million the MP allegedly took without resolving his troubles.\nChin described a \u201cMr R\u201d as the culprit, leading to a brief guessing game\nas to who among PKR\u2019s 31 MPs fit the initials.<\/p>\n
Rafizi Ramli, Anwar\u2019s former deputy who has now turned fierce critic\nand is pursuing the allegations surrounding Azam Baki and the MACC,\ninsinuated that the MP is likely R. Ramanan, Anwar\u2019s favourite minister\nand a PKR vice president and alleged that \u201cMr R\u201d is a lawyer named\nSandraruben Neelamagham, better known as Ruben, who formerly served\nFarhash Wafa Salvador, a former Anwar\u2019s senior aide believed by many to\nbe Anwar\u2019s money man. Farhash has gone on to found the company Swag\nTechnologies and is an independent non-executive director of the\nSingapore-listed Bluemont Group Ltd, now known as Southern Archipelago\nLtd.<\/p>\n
Whatever the veracity of that allegation, there has been a\nmonths-long fight over NexG Bhd, which has served as a political\nfootball for more than a decade as rival political interests, including\nthe UMNO and PKR, have fought over control of its lucrative government\ncontracts. In mid-March, according to Channel News Asia, Anwar was\nforced to step in to put a stop to a struggle for control of NexG\nbetween Farhash and businessman Ishak Ismail, another long-time Anwar\nassociate, ultimately deciding in favor of Ishak Ismail to lead the\ncompany.<\/p>\n
NexG secured RM 1.73 billion to supply Malaysian passports in August\n2025 and won another six-year contract worth RM732.72 million to supply\nMYCAD smart national identity cards in early October, with an 18-month\nextension for continued supply of foreign worker cards, all from the\nPKR-helmed Ministry of Home Affairs. Together they totaled RM2.6\nbillion. A bewilderingly complex series of corporate moves occurred as\nvarying sides fought for control.<\/p>\n
The company\u2019s then co-founding chairman, Hanifah Noordin, a Chin\nally, alleged that the new directors that came to control NextG in\nOctober wanted to subcontract the RM2.6 billion deal to other companies\nincluding NexG\u2019s competitor HeiTech Padu. At Anwar\u2019s order, six NexG\nboard directors aligned with Farhash resigned on March 11. Records show\nFarhash was a substantial shareholder of HeiTech Padu in March 2024. In\nOctober the same year, the company was awarded a contract for the\nNational Integrated Immigration System (NIISe), Malaysia\u2019s proposed\nAI-powered immigration system designed to modernize border control,\nimprove security, and enhance service delivery, whose value was later\nraised to RM 1.05<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/malaysias-brewing-corporate-mafia-scandal-1774958117", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }