Ramanan to KJ: Explain ECM Libra issue, don't beat around the bush

GE15 | Pakatan Harapan's Sungai Buloh candidate R Ramanan today claimed that his opponent Khairy Jamaluddin has failed to explain the controversial ECM Libra issue, accusing him of beating around the bush.

When met on his campaign trail, Ramanan (above) said he will provide evidence when the health minister properly explains the issue.

"Khairy being an Oxford graduate and supposedly a highly intellectual person should be able to understand what I asked. I asked very clearly. I asked him to explain the issue, and I already formed the questions and put them forward to him.

"So all he needs to do is answer those questions, after he answers the three questions that I posed to him, then I will provide whatever evidence I have, I will rebut and then he can decide whether he wants to sue me or not.

"(Please) ask him not to beat around the bush and be straightforward," he told Malaysiakini.

He said Khairy had never explained the issue since he was embroiled in the ECM Libra controversy in 2006.

Ramanan further claimed that voters have also raised the ECM Libra issue when he met them while campaigning.

He said he is unfazed by Khairy's threat to take legal action against him.

"If I was afraid of court action, I would not have posed these questions to him in the first place," he added.

Yesterday, Khairy challenged Ramanan to make his allegation on ECM Libra clear, so he can sue the Harapan candidate.

Controversy over shares

Ramanan first raised the matter on ECM Libra in an interview with Malaysiakini published on Nov 5, when he questioned why there was attention to his 2014 civil case, but not those in which Khairy was involved.

The ECM Libra issue involves Khairy's purchase of the merchant bank's shares at US$2.6 million, through a soft loan from the company's founders.

It became a controversy when troubled ECM Libra was allowed to merge with government company Avenue Capital, soon after Khairy bought the shares.

At the time, Khairy's father-in-law Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was prime minister and the Public Accounts Committee investigated the matter.

Public pressure forced Khairy to sell his shares in ECM Libra.

UKSB issue, Sports Ministry embezzlement

Ramanan also called on Khairy to provide an explanation over his involvement in the Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd (UKSB) issue and the RM107 million embezzlement issue when he was youth and sports minister.

The UKSB matter refers to the corruption trial against BN chairperson Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, where the court heard that "KJ" was written in a UKSB ledger used to record payments made to individuals between 2014 and 2018.

But the witness could not confirm if this referred to Khairy, who is widely known by his initials. The court heard the payments were political contributions.

The embezzlement issue refers to the MACC’s arrest of a Youth and Sports Ministry division secretary in 2016, for allegedly masterminding a syndicate to embezzle RM107 million in government funds.

Khairy, who was the youth and sports minister at the time, told Parliament he accepted responsibility as the minister in charge but whether he was personally involved was up to the MACC to determine.

The suspect allegedly exploited a loophole where funds could be taken out without the minister or chief secretary's approval, prompting Khairy to order an internal review of the ministry's financial procedures.

In this general election, the Sungai Buloh seat will see a seven-cornered fight.

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