Farhash could be your 'Jho Low', Rafizi warns Anwar

Former minister Rafizi Ramli has warned Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim that his former political secretary turned millionaire businessman Farhash Wafa Salvador could be the next "Jho Low", referring to the fugitive financier widely blamed for orchestrating the 1MDB scandal that caused the fall of former leader Najib Razak.

Interviewed by news portal Malaysiakini, Rafizi said that there had been "invisible hands" controlling the top office in the past, only to eventually cause its downfall.

"I think Malaysia has already been burned once by the Low saga. I don’t think we want to allow even a fraction of that to happen again. The question of whether this could turn into another Low case, well, anything that gives undue influence to an unaccountable, unelected figure is exactly what we must avoid. But I do think the risk exists,” said the Pandan MP, who resigned as economy minister shortly after his position as number two in PKR was taken over by Anwar's daughter Nurul Izzah following a controversial party election.

Rafizi warns against hidden hands like "Rasputin", the influential figure at the tail end of the Russian empire, and explains how a person wielding political influence could climb the corporate ladder through businessmen seeking lucrative government contracts.

"There is a tendency to use companies as vehicles. It's not just Farhash. Suppose there is an influential person who supposedly has a 'cable' with the government. Let's say there is a tender A, B and C. Tender A could be worth billions for 10 years. And so you look for a suitable vehicle.

"The owner of the company thinks, 'Okay, it's a good thing for my company, this is a big cable'. So a transaction takes place that actually looks legitimate. So I sell my 20%, and suddenly a new person with no record emerges as a corporate player, and takes over 20%  of company A. Then company A applies for the tender, and company A gets it!" said Rafizi.

Since his former boss became prime minister in November 2022, Farhash has been given top positions in numerous companies, among them retail chain outlet 7-Eleven which forms part of billionaire tycoon Vincent Tan's empire, a stockbrocking firm, and a fintech company.

Last year, Farhash came under fire from critics concerned about the intertwining of big business and ruling politicians after he secured a substantial stake in a company shortlisted to develop a new billion-ringgit immigration system.

The 42-year-old former Perak PKR chairman had emerged as a substantial shareholder in HeiTech Padu Bhd with a 15.91% stake through his company Rosetta Partners Sdn Bhd.

HeiTech Padu was one of three companies shortlisted by the government to develop the RM1 billion National Integrated Immigration System (NIISe) project, a replacement for the Malaysian Immigration System (MyIMMs).

The purchase in HeiTech Padu came just a day after MyEG Services Bhd acquired a 14.4% equity interest in the company for RM31.25 million cash on March 11, 2024.

That same day, HeiTech Padu announced it had received a one-year extension of its contract to maintain MyIMMs worth over RM13 million.

Farhash in response said Rosetta Partners is a subsidiary of Mfivesouthsea Sdn Bhd, which he jointly owns with Kelantan's Sultan Muhammad V.

Both Anwar and Farhash have so far dismissed growing public concern, saying the latter is no longer active in politics.

Farhash hit the headlines again last July after MalaysiaNow revealed documents and audio recordings  showing how Bumi Suria Sdn Bhd had been given the green light for a mining exploration licence covering 70,000 hectares near the Kalimantan border - an area almost three times the size of Kuala Lumpur.

The approval for Bumi Suria, a company controlled by Farhash and another individual, came on May 21 last year, just two weeks after Farhash and Aminuddin Mustapha took control of the company.

Farhash has since denied the report and filed a RM10 million defamation suit against MalaysiaNow.

It is one of four defamation suits by Farhash, including against former Umno man Isham Jalil, Machang MP Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad and Rafizi himself.

Speaking to Malaysiakini today, Rafizi reminded Anwar not to simply dismiss concerns about Farhash with the excuse that he is no longer in politics.

He said Najib had once similarly denied Jho Low's role.

"From my own experience, we cannot take such talk lightly. When you begin to hear consistent chatter from multiple stakeholders, you must pay attention. That’s how it was with Low and 1MDB, and that’s why I won’t take chances.

"For now, my appeal to Anwar is this: do not take the same route. We’ve been down that road before. If something does happen and it is later proven true, then Anwar and PKR will be the ones who have to bear the cost, and that would be a real pity, especially for a party that claims to stand for reform," added Rafizi.