KWAP’s private investments in the spotlight
News, ideas and everything in between (#6)
Since it’s Monday, I’m going to start with something light. Over the weekend, I spotted this bit of news: investor Raja Hamzah Abidin Raja Nong Chik claims he was scammed by former remisier Ali Imran Mohamad.
Ali Imran, who was with stockbrokerage CGS International, told Raja Hamzah that he could help the investor purchase a million shares in Bursa-listed golf equipment dealer MST Golf for RM900,000.
All Raja Hamzah reportedly had to do was transfer the money into a company owned by Ali Imran’s mother-in-law. And Raja Hamzah did that on July 18 last year.
Turns out, Ali Imran didn’t make a single purchase of MST Golf shares. Raja Hamzah claims that the 26-year-old former remisier used RM655,440 for personal expenses and only returned RM244,560.
Raja Hamzah definitely filed a police report as this is a criminal case and the Attorney-General’s Chambers saw fit to take it up, hence the deputy public prosecutor is acting on behalf of the investor against Ali Imran.
Raja Hamzah, 36, is the son of Umno politician and former Federal Territories Minister Raja Nong Chik Zainal Abidin. Raja Hamzah is also known for running his own VC firm RHL Ventures and is an angel investor. This man is not a freshie as he has been around for sometime.
You know, wouldn’t depositing a relatively large amount of cash — at least for me, okay? — into the bank account of someone’s mother-in-law raises red flags? I thought the rule of thumb was to never transfer to a third-party bank account?
Ali Imran pleaded not guilty. Trial continues February 6.
On a personal note, Friday was my last at Singapore-based publication Tech in Asia. There’s a lot to process, especially the fact that I will no longer be receiving a fixed fee from January onward. More in my year-ender which will be in a couple of week’s time.
But this is where rubber finally hits the road. It’s time to build a media empire.
You’re reading a paid version of The Malaysianist, a newsletter on money and power by writer and journalist Emmanuel Samarathisa.
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In today’s issue:
All eyes on KWAP’s private investments as two of them make the news
Is Malaysia’s entrepreneurial engine sputtering?
The home ministry wants to tech solutions for cross-border surveillance. Why that’s a dangerous invite
And in case you missed Monday’s newsletter on Malaysia’s digital ID woes:
Yesterday, business publication DealStreetAsia (DSA) ran a story that the cofounders of Indonesian agritech giant eFishery were suspended by the board, following an investigation into alleged financial irregularities at the company.
One of Indonesia’s hottest startups, eFishery attracted investments from a roster of financial heavyweights and went on to earn the coveted unicorn status sometime last year.
When DSA’s story was published yesterday, certain Malaysian investor groups were buzzing that a regional giant had come under scrutiny.
These investors and startup bros were thankful that Khazanah Nasional wasn’t an investor, given the weeks-long public obsession with FashionValet, a former investee of the national sovereign wealth fund.
Sadly for these hopefuls, there’s government-linked money in eFishery by way of civil servants’ pensions fund Retirement Fund Inc (Or KWAP in its Malay acronym).