MACC chief Azam Baki said the investigation is important as the matter involves public funds and interests, Astro Awani reported.

“I have directed my officers to begin a probe. An investigation is necessary to find if there were criminal elements or matters of misconduct,” he said last night.

In a written reply in the Dewan Rakyat last Monday, the finance ministry said Khazanah and PNB had obtained RM3.1 million from selling their shares in the e-commerce fashion platform to NXBT Partners last year. NXBT is an investment holding company controlled by TIME dotCom Bhd CEO Afzal Abdul Rahim.

The sum stands in contrast to the RM47 million invested by Khazanah and PNB in 2018 – RM27 million and RM20 million, respectively – for a minority stake in Fashion Valet.

In a statement last night, Khazanah said the divestment of its stake in Fashion Valet was a responsible move following the loss of the funds invested.

It said it had accepted the offer to acquire existing shareholders’ stakes and inject capital into the company “in view of the company’s urgent need for funds to continue operations, and the fact that the investment had reached the end of its targeted holding period”.

PNB also issued a statement last night, saying the proceeds of its RM20 million investment into Fashion Valet went into the firm’s growth plans.

“All the investment proceeds went into Fashion Valet to fund its growth plans and not to any of its existing shareholders, which included the founding entrepreneurs,” it said.

PNB said the purchase of its stake in Fashion Valet was in line with Putrajaya’s call for government-linked investment companies to support high-potential Bumiputera firms involved in the new economy, in this case, the digital economy.

Yesterday, Fashion Valet’s founders – Vivy Yusof, and her husband, Fadzarudin Anuarv- also said they would step down from their management posts in the company to take full responsibility for Khazanah and PNB’s losses.