A SENIOR Australian public servant has accused a Selangor Umno leader of allegedly demanding US$25 million (RM98.3 million) for securing an endorsement from a deputy finance minister in a proposed deal involving Malaysian funds, Malaysiakini reported, quoting an Australian daily.

Australian Nic Manikis, who also worked as an international financier in a venture led by an unnamed fraudster, received letters demanding the large sum of money, the report stated.

It said Manikis, through the company Ladylaw Securities, had lobbied to borrow US$1 billion from Malaysian state-controlled funds to be invested in Australian property and Canadian oil and gas ventures, and that he had agreed to pay 2% of this sum to those who could secure the money from Malaysian pension funds.

“I did agree to that and that’s a reasonable approach,” Manikis told The Australian.

However, after the fundraising effort proved unsuccessful, Manikis said the Umno leader sent him three legal letters insisting on the payment.  

The Australian said the legal letters cited a “letter of consent from Deputy Minister of Finance Malaysia to support the investment proposal proposed by Ladylaw Securities”.

“Had I got the US$1 billion I was seeking, I would have been out of there,” Manikis told The Australian.

“I’ve not received one red cent out of Malaysia.”

On Thursday, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) had refuted statements by Sarawak Report, carried on its blog and in a Facebook post the day prior, that it was involved in any fraudulent activities connected to Ladylaw Securities or Nik Manikis.

“Before any investment decisions are made, our governance process requires all proposals to be subjected to stringent risk assessment and due diligence by the management,” EPF had said. – March 3, 2018.