FASHIONVALET investors will be summoned to appear before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) by the second week of next month, the Dewan Rakyat was told.
PAC chairman Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin said Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) officials would be called to the proceedings.
“PAC will begin proceedings regarding investment losses by Khazanah and PNB towards FashionValet, which involved public funds amounting to RM43.9mil.
“Proceedings are expected to begin in the second week of December,” Mas Ermieyati told a press conference in Parliament yesterday.
In a written parliamentary reply last week, the Finance Ministry stated that Khazanah and PNB sold their shares in the e-commerce platform for RM3.1mil to NXBT Partners last year.
This contrasts with the RM47mil investment made by the two government’s investment arms in 2018, comprising RM27mil and RM20mil respectively for minority stakes in FashionValet.
FashionValet founders Datin Vivy Yusof and Fadzaruddin Shah Anuar have apologised for the losses and announced they would step down as chief executive officer and executive director, respectively.
The husband-and-wife pair are currently being questioned by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) over the investment losses linked to Khazanah and PNB
On Nov 6, MACC searched the couple’s house and froze several of their accounts with RM1.1mil in funds. The search ended at 8pm.
Among the goods seized were 11 handbags and a luxury watch, with a total value of some RM200,000.
Meanwhile, Mas Ermieyati told reporters after the press conference that the ongoing Parliament session would be packed with PAC proceedings, with one on the Armed Forces Fund taking place this week and another on National Farmers’ Organisation (Nafas).
“We will summon Nafas next week on padi management and we also have a working visit to Bayan Lepas next Thursday on the national water management system,” she added.
She said earlier that among those to be summoned were Nafas’ management team including its chief executive officer and the national Farmers’ Organisation Authority regulators.
Mas Ermieyati said so far, 12 witnesses had been summoned this week on Nafas and 14 witnesses, consisting of farmers, manufacturers and academicians would be called up next week.
“We are concerned that the crisis affecting Nafas now would lead to an even bigger problem, such as the shortage in supply of fertilisers to farmers,” she added.
