Blackmailed PKR MP felt safer in opposition than under Madani govt

After being targeted in a sex video blackmail attempt, PKR lawmaker Wong Chen said he now feels less safe as a ruling legislator, an irony not lost on the Subang MP.

Wong, who has served as an MP for 13 years, said this was the first time he had ever been blackmailed.

“It is ironic that as an MP of PKR, the ruling party of the Madani government, I personally feel less safe as a legislator now, compared to my time during previous governments as an opposition MP,” he said in a statement.

Wong (above) added that what unsettled him most was the sheer crudeness of the attempt.

“The fact that this blackmail attempt was so fake and so badly executed worries me more,” he remarked.

Wong also expressed “great sympathy” for former minister Rafizi Ramli, who was among those threatened with the release of a fake sex video unless he paid US$100,000 (RM420,000).

He noted that the latest blackmail attempt came on the heels of the “cowardly attack” on Rafizi’s son, and the “lack of progress in terms of police investigation in that particular case.”

“Out of the 222 MPs in Malaysia, the fact that Rafizi and I have been targeted at the same time and day may or may not be coincidental.

“I absolutely echo his concerns that these attacks on him, and now me, may be more sinister, perhaps a direct attempt to access our computer and handphone, or worse still, to subvert parliamentary democracy and silence our opinions.

“I will not retreat, I will continue to discharge my duties and views without fear or favour,” he stressed.

Three elements involved

Wong revealed that he discovered the blackmail email last Friday morning in his parliamentary office’s general complaints inbox.

The email contained three elements, as follows:

• A blackmail message;

• A picture of a man on a bed next to a naked person (a screenshot, not an actual video);

• A QR code.

“The message said that I have been followed and spied upon for a long time, and that the person now has an incriminating sex video of me and that he or she will release the video in three days unless I make a payment of US$100,000 via an attached QR code linking to a cryptocurrency or stablecoin account.

“My officer showed me the email from his laptop. He did not click on any link or scan the QR code. Instead, we went straight to file a police report,” he said.

Following this, Wong contacted Rafizi, who told him he had received the same email. Rafizi, who is the Pandan MP, revealed the threat in a social media post yesterday.

“The blackmail note is exactly the same too. So is the screenshot photo sent to him. The only difference is the photo sent to me has my face, and the photo sent to him has his face.

“Other than our faces, both photos are exactly identical, from the fold of the pillows and blanket, to the room, the bed and the naked person in the photo.

“In other words, the same person had attempted to blackmail both of us, but separately. What is perplexing is that the blackmailer did it in such a lazy and unprofessional way that he or she used the very same photo,” he added.

Stop spreading fake news

Wong also dismissed false social media claims that his phone had been hacked and a sex video extracted.

“I ask the people who are spreading this to stop this false and fake news. They can redeem themselves by spreading this press statement far and wide,” he said.

Earlier, Selangor state executive councillor for youth, sports and entrepreneurship Najwan Halimi revealed that he too had received a similar threat.

He also disclosed that Sungai Petani MP Taufiq Johari was targeted, bringing the total number of threatened Pakatan Harapan leaders to five.

Apart from the four PKR lawmakers, DAP’s Deputy Plantation and Commodities Minister Chan Foong Hin was also a victim.

Rafizi, Subang MP, deputy minister hit with sex video extortion threat

Rafizi reminds PAS of PN's role in Kg Sg Baru eviction

Rafizi: No new update on son's syringe attack