Deputy Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan has denied ever owning a Rolex watch, saying he cannot afford it.

 

"I never had a Rolex watch. I never even wore one. I don't have enough money to buy Rolex," he told Malaysiakini when contacted today.

 

He said this when asked to respond to claims by the anti-crime activist R Sri Sanjeevan that he was spotted wearing a Rolex Submariner watch estimated to be worth between RM30,000 and RM40,000.

 

The claims by Sanjeevan ( right ) were made in a series of photographs published on Facebook since last Saturday, depicting various politicians and senior officials wearing their watches, along with what is purported to be the name and model of the watches and their cost.

 

The prices of the watches range from several hundred to hundreds of thousands of ringgit, purportedly on the wrists of personalities including Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, Najib's wife Rosmah Mansor, PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, among others.

 

Ahmad said instead of a Rolex, there are only two watches that he normally wears – an Orient model, and another from Swatch.

 

He said the Orient watch is worth about RM800 and was a gift from a friend for his birthday last year, while he bought the Swatch watch for himself for about RM230.

 

When asked, Ahmad did not rule out suing Sanjeevan's NGO, Malaysian Crime Watch Task Force (MyWatch), over the photographs.

 

"Perhaps the photos were edited and a Rolex watch placed my wrist. I can sue MyWatch for the fake pictures, but for the moment I will see first," he said.

 

Meanwhile, Zahid's press secretary told Malaysiakini today that the home minister is overseas at the moment, and will only be back on Wednesday.

 

Malaysiakini has also contacted the aides of Najib, Hishammuddin and Khairy for their comment and is awaiting their responses.