KUALA LUMPUR, June 12 — Minister Datuk Seri Azmin Ali has today categorically denied he was purportedly the man in a gay sex video widely shared across social media networks this week, claiming it was a "vicious libel” against him.

The economics affairs minister said he has also told his lawyers to take appropriate legal action against those who made the allegations and other perpetrators, and he will use all legal means available to expose the culprits behind the alleged plot.

"This is nothing but a nefarious plot to assassinate my reputation and character in an attempt to destroy my political career,” he said in a statement.

"Judging from recent political developments, this is clearly the latest in a series of concerted attempts over the past few months to vilify me, which includes intimidation against the safety of my family and I in the final week of Ramadan, and vile and baseless accusations of corruption.”

At time of writing, it is not known which incident involving his family that he was referring to.

Azmin said he utterly condemns this brand of gutter politics, which he said has no place in the so-called New Malaysia where the government is working to rebuild the nation through institutional reforms.

"I will not submit to these cowardly acts and heinous attempts to distract the public from the pressing concerns of the nation and the successes of the Ministry of Economic Affairs in the planning and implementation of national development policies that are sustainable and inclusive.

"I trust the Royal Malaysia Police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) will take all necessary action with regards to this matter,” he said.

Yesterday, several videos of roughly 90 seconds each began circulating on social media which depicted a man performing sexual acts on another man who allegedly resembles the minister.

The videos were first spread to journalists on a WhatsApp group purposely created for it, where several screenshots of bank transactions believed to be doctored with Azmin’s name were also attached.

Early this morning, a man who called himself Haziq Aziz released a 30-second clip on the Facebook page of the senior private secretary to Primary Industries Deputy Minister Datuk Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin, confessing to the sexual video and calling for Azmin to be investigated for corruption.

The MACC has since said it will follow up on the allegation, following a report by Umno man Datuk Lokman Noor Adam claiming an engineering company transferred US$741,440 (about RM3.1 million) into a bank account bearing Azmin’s name on December 19, 2017.