Minister caught in Malaysia’s ‘corporate mafia’ saga denies US$2.4 million bribe claim

Ramanan Ramakrishnan is Malaysia’s human resource minister and vice-president of the ruling People’s Justice Party.

Photo: Handout A Malaysian minister on Wednesday denied he was the unnamed politician at the centre of fresh allegations in the country’s so-called corporate mafia controversy, amid wide speculation over the individual’s identity.

Ramanan Ramakrishnan, human resource minister, and vice-president of the ruling People’s Justice Party (PKR), rejected claims he had taken 9.5 million ringgit (US$2.4 million) in exchange for “helping resolve” the alleged matter.

The controversy gained traction following news reports in February that a group of businessmen and their government cronies were colluding to seize control of companies.

The latest allegation came from Malaysian businessman Victor Chin Boon Long, who released a 40-page chronology and a separate statement this week claiming that a PKR member of parliament asked him on October 18 last year to arrange 10 million ringgit in cash in exchange for speaking to the supposed “corporate mafia”.

Chin, who was previously tied to that alleged network, now says he was in fact a victim of the same mafia scheme.

Chin said he managed to provide 9.5 million ringgit, but the remaining 500,000 ringgit was never handed over because the promised resolution did not materialise.

He did not publicly name the lawmaker in the documents, but referred to “Mr R” and several other initials.

Ramanan, a Sungai Buloh lawmaker, pushed back hard at a press conference on Wednesday. “Only Chin can answer who Mr R is,” he told reporters. “I don’t hold any public shares.

Zero.

Zero.” He also challenged the businessman to identify the politician directly, saying: “Don’t play this guessing game.

Name the person straight.

Then we can sue and prove whether it is true or not.” Ramanan described the allegation as “a dirty narrative to tarnish PKR, its MPs and the government”, and said he had “never met”, “never spoken to” and did not know Chin.

He also accused Chin of “trying to paint himself as the victim”, alleging that the businessman was seeking “political asylum in the United Kingdom”, though he did not provide evidence for that claim. “If you have done nothing wrong, come back.

Be investigated,” Ramanan said.

Chin, for his part, has sought to cast himself as a victim rather than an architect of the alleged scheme, according to Ramanan.

In a statement titled “I know who the real Corporate Mafia is” on Tuesday, Chin

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