Mat Hasan, Akmal hit back at Pua over FashionValet remarks

Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan and Youth chief Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh have hit back at former DAP lawmaker Tony Pua over his remarks on the FashionValet scandal.

Mohamad, who is also the foreign minister, appeared to have been provoked by Pua’s drawing comparisons between Khazanah Nasional’s decision to invest in FashionValet and not Grab.

“Previously, you too spread lies that Grab was owned by Rosmah (Mansor). Have you forgotten Pua?” he said on X.

Mohamad appeared to be referencing a 2018 article in which Rosmah’s husband Najib Abdul Razak slammed Pakatan Harapan for accusing his wife of being the owner of Grab and Uber.

While Najib did not single out Pua, Free Malaysia Today reported the former prime minister’s remarks against the backdrop of the DAP politician - then a political secretary at the Finance Ministry - saying the government was in talks with Grab.

However, checks by Malaysiakini have not found any instance of Pua or any Harapan politician making such an allegation against Rosmah.

Still, there are postings from 2016 and 2017 making the claims, mostly attributed to taxi drivers.

Harapan at that time had been sympathetic to cabbies who were badly affected when Grab and Uber appeared on the scene.

‘Being stupid is free’

Akmal appeared to be incensed by Pua downplaying the RM44 million loss in value that Khazanah and Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) suffered in their FashionValet shareholdings as being part of the inherent risks of venture capital investments.

Akmal said while profits and losses were indeed a normal part of business, what’s unusual is parking public funds in a company that had - at the time of investment - recorded losses for five straight years.

“What’s more unusual is when there is someone defending it.

“Do they know that, for the rakyat down there, getting an RM10,000 business loan is difficult?

“It’s ok, being stupid is free and they can continue being stupid,” he said.

In a response to Mohamad later, Pua emphasised he had never said Rosmah owned Grab.

"For the record, I'm not an idiot or a joker. I never said Grab was owned by Rosmah. Please do not spread malicious lies. It is unbecoming of a minister.

"I did, however, say that your then president was a crook and should be sent to jail. But you supported the crook anyway. Thankfully, he sits and sleeps where he belongs today," said Pua on Facebook.

MACC investigating

Khazanah and PNB invested a combined RM47 million into FashionValet in March 2018.

At the time, the prime minister and finance minister - who by extension is the Khazanah chairperson - was Najib, whom Akmal is a staunch defender of.

Khazanah and PNB’s losses came to light via a Parliament reply last week.

After that, FashionValet co-founders Vivy Yusof and her husband Fadzaruddin Shah Anuar took responsibility for the losses and resigned from the company.

MACC is investigating the company over the losses, while Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has ordered Khazanah to conduct an internal probe on the matter.

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