KUALA LUMPUR, July 14 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had used his personal funds to pay for the maintenance of a 10-year-old Jaguar donated to him and had returned a BMW which was lent to him during the 15th general election (GE15) campaign period, his political secretary said today.
Following questions raised on Anwar’s use of these two luxury cars, his political secretary Ahmad Farhan Fauzi said Anwar used those cars before he became prime minister and was provided with an official car.
Farhan said the Jaguar car with the plate number VCQ 8055 was a used car donated by a reformation sympathiser to Yayasan Aman in 2020, with the vehicle’s age at that time already exceeding 10 years.
“It was used by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim when he did not have any positions in the administration of government.
“Although registered under the name of Yayasan Aman, the cost of maintenance for that car together with insurance and road tax are borne by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim using his personal money and no funds at all from Yayasan Aman were used for that car,” he said in a statement here.
“For the BMW 7 Series car BEM 1, it was lent by a Bumiputera businessman which was used for the election campaign alone and that vehicle was returned to that businessman shortly after Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim received an official government car.”
Farhan’s statement came after he lodged a police report yesterday against Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia information committee member Badrul Hisham Shaharin (better known as Chegubard), former Bersatu information chief Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan, and blogger Raggie Jessy Rithaudeen over their alleged false and defamatory remarks.
Farhan claimed the three individuals had made defamatory remarks against Anwar in relation to his current private residence at Sungai Long, Kajang in Selangor, several vehicles and other assets.
Farhan said he had provided evidence to the police including a 10-year lease agreement for the house from August 2020 to July 2030, and a copy of the land title showing the registration of that lease with the Land Office.
He said he had also provided proof that payments for the lease had been made annually from 2020 onwards without fail, including the lease for the year 2023 which was paid in November 2022 before Anwar became prime minister.
He said reference can be made to Anwar’s November 9, 2022 statutory declaration regarding assets belonging to him.
Farhan today said his police report was made “without any political pressure on the authorities in the carrying out of their duties”.
He urged everyone to give the authorities space to carry out their duties, and also urged a stop to the “culture” of defamation.
Yesterday, Anwar’s lawyer Datuk Sankara Nair was also reported saying the prime minister can live anywhere as long as he feels secure, and questioned why the latter would have to move out from the house which he has taken a 10-year lease on just because he is the prime minister now.
Last Tuesday, Badrul Hisham posted a statement on Facebook regarding alleged proof regarding Anwar’s properties, his current personal residence and the vehicles that he was said to have used, which he said he had presented to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
Badrul Hisham claimed that Anwar’s personal residence is owned by a business tycoon and questioned if there are any agreements to rent or buy the place, and also mentioned two alleged luxury cars that he said Anwar was using but were allegedly not part of the latter’s declared assets.
