Rafizi, who is contesting the Pandan parliamentary seat in the general election (GE15), last week declared RM16.74 million in investments — with RM16.7 million worth of shares in his company, Invoke.
In a statement today, Latiff claimed that as of last December, Invoke had suffered losses and was RM4.7 million in the red.
“The public deserves to know what caused the sudden increase in the value of the assets for the sake of the transparency that Rafizi is always talking about,” said Latiff, the former Mersing MP.
“Is Rafizi ready to immediately disclose the contracts and the sources of income for Invoke this year which have led to the sudden increase in their asset value?
“I call upon Rafizi to disclose the full details in an honest, transparent manner,” said Latiff in a statement.
Latiff also asked Rafizi to explain why there were only 14 shareholders in the company, including Rafizi himself, who is the majority shareholder.
He said this was despite Rafizi stating in 2017 that the company’s shares would be allocated to Invoke staff who he said “had sacrificed much” for the company.
“What happened to the promise made in 2017 to allocate the shares to Invoke staff? There were 80 staff in Invoke back in 2017.
“Does Rafizi have no intention of sharing the RM17 million worth of Invoke assets with those who have ‘sacrificed’ to make Invoke a success?”
After Rafizi’s asset declaration last week, another Bersatu man, former Batu Pahat MP Rashid Hasnon, had noted that Invoke was not a for-profit organisation and was not meant to enrich anyone.
He also said that statements on Rafizi’s website showed that Invoke cannot use any profit for personal gain, including for shareholders.
“Even if Rafizi does not sell or dispose of the shares anytime soon, this is millions of ringgit (in shares) that he now owns. The source of the wealth is the public-interest initiative, Invoke,” he said in a statement.
“He has profited, and the profit is massive. Ordinary Malaysians can only dream of earning RM16.74 million, even if they work their entire lifetime.”