KUALA LUMPUR (March 25): Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri R Ramanan has refuted allegations that he solicited or accepted money from businessman Victor Chin Boon Long to resolve his "corporate mafia" issues, saying he had never met Chin.

"How can I take RM9.5 million from someone I have never met in my life or I don't know?" Ramanan asked when questioned if he was the PKR member of Parliament alleged to have received the funds.

"Out of thin air, he said he has given me RM9.5 million, or any PKR MP RM9.5 million...this has to make sense in some way," Ramanan, who is also a PKR vice-president, told a press conference on Wednesday.

"This is a dirty narrative to tarnish PKR, its MPs and the government," he said.

He also denied that he was the "Mr R" who Chin alleged was a key intermediary of the corporate mafia, and challenged Chin to name the person directly and provide evidence to back his claims, instead of hiding his "wild accusations" behind anonymous monikers.

“Don’t play guessing games. Name the person so we can take legal action and verify whether the claims are true,” he said, adding that such allegations should not be treated as “a comedy court” but handled with evidence and accountability.

“I can see there are a few irresponsible personalities out there trying to link me to this 'Mr R'. I don’t hold any public shares. Zero. Zero,” he said, dismissing allegations that hundreds of millions of shares had been transferred to him.

He added that it would not be plausible for an MP to transact large volumes of shares without triggering scrutiny from regulators such as the Securities Commission Malaysia and Bursa Malaysia.

Ramanan was addressing fresh allegations Chin made on Tuesday regarding the suspected corporate mafia. Chin claimed an executive director of HeiTech Padu Bhd (KL:HTPADU), whom he identified only as Mr R, acted as a middleman for the gang seeking to seize control of NexG Bhd (KL:NEXG) and its related shareholdings. Chin alleged the group had used pressure, coercion, and restrictions on shareholders to force their hand. NexG is the sole supplier of Malaysia's passport booklets and identity cards.

Chin also alleged that a PKR MP had solicited RM10 million from him to resolve these issues, of which RM9.5 million was purportedly paid. Chin also issued an ultimatum to the unnamed PKR MP, demanding the return of the funds for failing to deliver on the deal, or face public exposure.

During the press conference, Ramanan turned the spotlight back on Chin's own background, noting that multiple police reports have been lodged against the businessman, with various news articles written detailing his involvement with companies known for volatile share price movements.

Brandishing a thick stack of documents, Ramanan alleged that there are 500 accounts linked to or operated by Chin. “We have all the evidence — his right-hand man, left-hand man. Pages and pages we have all those associated with him and his proxies,” Ramanan said.

The minister then produced a photograph taken in November last year showing Chin sitting together with Datuk Ishak Ismail, the current largest shareholder of NexG, and Tan Sri Mohd Khairul Adib Abd Rahman, formerly the company's chairman who had resigned a month before the photograph was taken.

"Who are these two people sitting with him? They are the new shareholders of NexG," Ramanan noted. Then his statements took a rhetorical turn: "This is not a corporate mafia, I am sorry. There are many accusations made saying he is a corporate mafia. Let me clear the air, he's not a corporate mafia. You see, if we read in the internet, mafias also have a code of conduct — they have certain ethics and certain principles.

"This fellow is the corporate devil, he has no mercy...he portrays himself like he's an angel. How many thousands of people have lost their life savings because of this individual?" Ramanan asked, while citing wild price swings in penny stocks such as G3 Global Bhd (KL:G3) and Hong Seng Consolidated Bhd (KL:HONGSENG), as examples that warranted regulatory scrutiny.

In his 40-page statement on Tuesday, Chin claimed Ishak had approached him and a "Tan Sri" in November last year, offering to resolve their supposed "corporate mafia" issues. At the time, the Tan Sri had resigned as an executive director of NexG a month earlier after being threatened to step down.

According to Chin, the Tan Sri was unable to finance a deal for 170 million NexG shares because his vehicle, Skyelimit Alliance Sdn Bhd, was allegedly under the control of Mr R. So, the Tan Sri sought Ishak's help. This led to a meeting between the three in Bangkok on Nov 16 to discuss a workaround involving Ishak and his daughter, Siti Nur Aishah. Ishak then advanced RM35 million to the Tan Sri to fund part of the share purchase, while Siti Nur Aishah acquired 30 million NexG shares on his behalf.

But the meeting was leaked to the corporate mafia, Chin said, which resulted in a freeze of Skyelimit's margin and CDS accounts. In the fallout, Chin alleged that mafia-linked nominees were appointed to the NexG board, while Mr R was appointed as NexG's corporate adviser. Under "sustained pressure", Chin and his associates were then forced to sell their NexG shares to the gang at an agreed price, in exchange for help in lifting the freeze of all their accounts and to secure a 'no further action' outcome or minimal compound.

The situation at NexG escalated to an outright boardroom tussle earlier this month, as Ishak emerged as the largest shareholder via Raya Aviation Holdings Sdn Bhd on March 4. Subsequently, Ishak's daughter and NexG founder Datuk Abu Hanifah Noordin tried to purge the board of seven directors linked to the corporate mafia, which led to a brief suspension of Hanifah from his posts. The stand-off ended when the directors resigned en-masse.

Ramanan said PKR members have been instructed to lodge police reports, urging authorities to investigate Chin’s claims.

He also questioned Chin’s credibility, alleging the businessman had previously made dubious claims involving multiple institutions, including Bank Negara Malaysia, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the police.

"This is a strategy to paint himself as the victim so that he can get political asylum in the UK. That's why he's blaming AMLA, he's blaming the SPRM, he's blaming Bank Negara, he's blaming the police, he's blaming everyone. He wants to play victim," Ramanan said. AMLA refers to the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.

He further accused Chin, who is now overseas, of fleeing the country to avoid facing investigations.

"If you have done nothing wrong, come back. Be investigated...come back to Malaysia if you are truly innocent. Don't sit overseas, smoke cigars and hide. This is a country of law," Ramanan added.

Ramanan also challenged Chin and anyone else to name him directly if they believe he was involved in the purported corporate mafia. “Name me and see whether I sue,” he said.

Stressing that allegations must be backed by verifiable evidence, he said Chin's allegations provided no documentation to substantiate his claims of money transfers or share transactions. “There is not a shred of evidence — no transfer records, nothing,” he said.

Ramanan said he had to speak out in his capacity as a vice-president of PKR to prevent misinformation from gaining traction.

“If we stay silent, people will think it is true. We must respond with facts, truth and evidence,” he said, adding the matter should be left to authorities to investigate following the police reports made.

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Victor Chin name-drops Anthony Loke, former IGP in apology statement over ‘corporate mafia’ probe