Shafie: RM1.5m payout to Zahida ‘completely untrue’

KUALA LUMPUR: A week after he was openly linked with a popular local artiste Zahida Mohamed Rafik, Rural and Regional Development Minister Mohd Shafie Apdal today denied making any hefty payments to her.

He warned that he would be taking legal action against anyone “who continues to defame me and link me with this issue”.

“I have been following closely various reports in the media and blogs that have linked my name to a police report dated March 13, 2012, by a person named Noor Azman Azemi, who claims to be under my employ as a driver, linking me with the payment of a large amount of money to an artiste by the name of Zahida Mohamed Rafik.

“I wish to state that everything that has been mentioned in the police report is completely untrue and that the subsequent comments by individuals who have distributed copies of the police report is with bad intent and politically motivated,” said the Umno vice-president in a statement today.

On April 18, PKR parliamentarians held a press conference at the parliament lobby where they revealed the details of Noor Azman’s police report.

Payments totalling RM1.5 million

In the report, Noor Azman had claimed that he was hired by the minister to be the artise’s personal driver.

He claimed that the minister told him to keep tabs on the actress and help him channel the funds into the actress’ personal account.

He further claimed in the report that the minister met the actress each week in hotels around Kuala Lumpur.

“At every meeting, he would hand over RM100,000 to RM200,000 to the actress,” alleged Noor Azman.

He said he resigned on Feb 29 this year, as he could not manage the pressure of working for the minister.

At the same press conference, Ampang MP and Wanita PKR chief Zuraida Kamaruddin had alleged that the actress had received RM58,000 last October, RM112,000 in November and RM330,000 in December, as well as RM510,000 in January this year.

‘Wait for the good news’

Following the press conference, PKR reps gave Shafie a week to reveal his source of income.

Days after the press conference, Zahida Rafik said on her Twitter that she had consulted her lawyers to take legal action against those implicating her.

“I am not keeping quiet. My lawyers are in the midst of settling the matter. So let them handle it.

“Wait for the good news,” she had said in her tweet.

The minister and the actress have previously denied any ties to each other. However even before the PKR press conference last week, several blogs had written about the alleged relationship between the two.