KUALA LUMPUR – E-commerce platform founders FashionValet Datin Vivy Sofinas Yusof and her husband Datuk Fadzarudin Shah Anuar pleaded not guilty at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court today to charges of criminal breach of trust involving RM8 million.
Vivy, 37, and Fadzarudin, 36, are accused of transferring the funds from FashionValet’s bank account to 30 Maple Sdn Bhd without obtaining approval from the e-commerce platform’s board of directors.
The charges were read before judge Rosli Ahmad and the prosecution proceedings were led by deputy public prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin, while both defendants were represented by lawyer Ashok Athimulan.
The couple was charged under Section 409 of the Penal Code, which carries a prison sentence of two to 20 years upon conviction.
Both defendants were granted bail of RM100,000 each and were required to surrender their passports to the court. The case is scheduled for mention again on January 22 next year.
The court also imposed an additional condition, prohibiting both defendants from interfering with the prosecution’s witnesses in this case.
The couple arrived at the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex at 8.35am, holding hands, to face charges related to investment losses amounting to RM43.9 million involving Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB).
Previously, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) detected several suspicious transactions during its investigation into investment losses involving the e-commerce company.
The investigation into the couple followed a disclosure by the Finance Ministry that Khazanah and PNB had only recouped RM3.1 million from the sale of their shares in the fashion e-commerce platform FashionValet to the Bumiputera-owned company NXBT Partners in 2023.
This amount was significantly lower than the RM47 million invested by Khazanah and PNB in 2018, comprising RM27 million and RM20 million respectively, for minority stakes in FashionValet.
The ministry defended the sale as a responsible divestment by Khazanah and PNB to strategic investors.
“The losses incurred from the sale of FashionValet shares are minimal compared to the overall revenue generated by Khazanah and PNB during the relevant year,” the ministry stated.
Following the investigation, the couple’s residence in Mont Kiara was raided, and the MACC seized several items, including 11 luxury handbags and a branded watch, with a total estimated value of approximately RM200,000.
MACC also froze several personal and corporate bank accounts owned by the couple, amounting to roughly RM1.1 million.
On November 28, MACC announced that it had completed its investigation into investments made by several government entities in FashionValet. The investigation papers were forwarded to MACC’s Legal and Prosecution Division for review and consideration.
On November 5, Scoop reported that based on documents from the Companies Commission of Malaysia, in December 2018, FashionValet had acquired 30 Maple Sdn Bhd for RM95 million. The company appeared to be fully owned by Vivy and Fadzarudin. – December 5, 2024
