A FORMER Australian civil servant, who was served a legal demand for RM98.3 million over a Malaysian deal that never took off, said he does not know the man seeking money from him.

Canberra Times reported yesterday that Nic Manikis, a former senior official at the Community Services Directorate, said after receiving the legal demand, his lawyers responded that they have never heard of the man.

Manikis, who was director of property development company Ladylaw Securities until it wound up last November, was reported to have met Malaysian government representatives, including those from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), to discuss a series of property deals in Canberra and Sydney in 2014. 

He was still a civil servant when he discussed with the Malaysians about “putting together a US$1 billion (RM4 billion) list of properties, and to leverage the Malaysian government’s funds to go through and purchase the properties”.

The deal did not take off, and Manikis thought it was the end of it until he received a legal letter at the end of 2015 from a law firm representing a man who wanted US$25 million as “commission for setting the whole thing up”.

“I ignored that letter. In 2017, a different law firm wrote to me. And then, just a few weeks ago, I got another letter threatening legal action.

“My solicitors wrote back to say we’ve never heard of this bloke. I’m still dealing with it now,” he was quoted as saying.

Manikis, who retired from civil service in November 2016, said the man seeking the commission has the same name as a “prominent Malaysian political operative”.

He said he suspects that forged documents claiming to relate to the Malaysian deal are being circulated.

He said he had, in fact, met with EPF reps.

“I did go and meet their general manager. He will tell you that I arrived during Ramadan with my Canadian director.”

On Thursday, EPF issued a statement denying all contact with the firms Ladylaw Securities and Limage Holdings, following a report by whistleblower site Sarawak Report.

“The involvement of Ladylaw Securities and Nic Manikis was made known to EPF on January 20, 2017, and a police report was lodged on January 23, 2017, stating that EPF has no knowledge of, nor was involved in any investment transaction with Ladylaw Securities or Nic Manikis,” said the statement. – March 7, 2018.