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A sudden storm of alleged corruption swept the nation recently and accusations are being flung around like bullets in a warzone.
The latest conflict involves local rapper and influencer Ariz Ramli, better known as Caprice, and former Minister of Economy Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli.
Earlier this week, Ariz called out Rafizi on social media as being involved in an alleged misconduct and corruption scandal by presenting several screenshots as “evidence”.
Of course, Rafizi did not take this lightly and demanded a public apology from Ariz, or face legal action for defamation.
What was Rafizi accused of and what evidence did Ariz present?
On 17 February, Rafizi shared a media statement on Facebook saying that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had suddenly opened an investigation against him over alleged misconduct and bribery during his tenure as the Minister of Economy.
The allegations involved two main government policies:
- The Silicon Vision Program, which involved strategic collaboration between the Malaysian government and semiconductor giant ARM Holdings to produce the country’s first semiconductor chips.
- The National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR) that outlined the national energy transition goals by 2025 which involved a large investment into the country’s green efforts.
NETR was launched in August 2023 while the ARM policy was launched in March 2025.
Regarding ARM, Rafizi explained that the partnership had went through official government channels involving the Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI). He highlighted that the Ministry of Economy was a planning ministry and had no authority to manage procurement or contracts of this nature.
The allegation against him over the ARM partnership suggested that he had deceived all the ministries involved, rushed the agreement, and misappropriated public funds related to the project.
Meanwhile, allegations against him regarding NETR accused Rafizi of awarding the project contract, which involved a RM2.5 billion investment, to a company linked to him.
Earlier this week, Ariz uploaded “evidence” of Rafizi’s alleged corruption involving the two government policies with a series of screenshots.
The first of Ariz’s evidence was a keynote address by Rafizi Ramli on the NETR project, taken from the Ministry of Economy’s official website.
His second evidence highligted Lee Choo Boo, a man he claims Rafizi is friends with and a shareholder of Invoke Malaysia (a non-governmental organisation founded by Rafizi). Ariz noted that Choo Boo was the chief executive officer of Itramas Corporation Sdn Bhd, which was one of the companies involved in the NETR project.
He also shared a screenshot of a Securities Commission document showing that Choo Boo had stakes in Rafizi’s Invoke NGO.
All of this alleged that Rafizi had an opportunity to award the NETR investment project to his company, although it was far from conclusive.
View on Threads
Rafizi has since addressed the content made by Ariz and informed the public that he will be explaining the allegations against him in minute detail through his Yang Bakar Menteri (YBM) podcast that is happening tonight (20 February) at 10pm.
Rafizi has been in hot soup ever since MACC chief’s corruption allegations
The former economy minister’s troubles began right after he held a press conference last week to call for the immediate suspension of MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki over corruption allegations involving share ownership in a company.
A Bloomberg report that made headlines last weekend alleged that Azam had procured stakes in a company that was well above the limit a Malaysian government servant is allowed to have.
READ MORE: [Watch] Bloomberg Report Alleges MACC Used In Corporate Takeover Scheme
The report, titled “Who Is Watching Malaysia’s Anti-Corruption Watchdog?”, said that the anti-graft chief owned 17.7 million shares in Velocity Capital Partner Bhd according to the company’s annual filing with Malaysia’s Companies Commission on 3 February 2025.
The stake was reported to be nearly RM800,000 based on the closing price on 9 February this year.
Under the Malaysian government guidelines issued in 2024, civil servants can buy shares in Malaysian-incorporate companies as long as their holdings don’t exceed five percent of the paid-up capital or RM100,000, whichever is lower.
Rafizi has been vocal about bringing Azam into the light of justice, and was even one of the backbencher MPs who appeared at the #TangkapAzamBaki rally that happened outside the SOGO shopping centre on 15 February.
READ MORE: MACC Chief Defends RM800,000 Share Holdings, Says Sold Within Year
READ MORE: Here’s What Happened At The Rally Against MACC And Azam Baki Last Weekend
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