Farhash To Receive Dato Seri Title From Penang

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Farhash Wan Salvador Rizal Mubarak, who is under scrutiny after being implicated in a mining scandal, is revealed to be on a list of recipients for a “Dato Seri” award from Penang Yang di-Pertua Negeri Ramli Ngah Talib.
An event programme book described the former aide to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim as a key corporate figure holding important leadership roles in various organisations.
Alongside Farhash, three other recipients of this year’s award also include Investment, Trade, and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz, Chief Secretary to the Government Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar, and Penang Malay Association president Yussoff Latiff.
The award to Farhash comes amid allegations that Sabah Mineral Management (SMM) Sdn Bhd gave a company linked to him the authority to prospect for minerals across 70,000ha in Sabah forest reserves.
ADSOn July 21, SMM and Farhash denied the claims, with the latter also issuing a cease and desist letter against MalaysiaNow for publishing the allegations.
Earlier today, SMM admitted to granting Bumi Suria Sdn Bhd conditional permission to apply for a prospecting licence, which was later cancelled after the company failed to submit the required documents.
Malaysiakini’s checks on official company records found that Bumi Suria is owned by Borneo Bumi, which in turn is owned by Farhash and Aminudin Mustapha. The duo serve as directors on both companies.
SMM, a firm wholly owned by the Sabah state government, accused MalaysiaNow of biased coverage while announcing its plans to begin defamation proceedings against the portal, as well as others that have republished the allegations.
Yesterday, MalaysiaNow published a six-minute video containing audio recordings that purportedly implicate Sabah Chief Minister Hajiji Noor in the controversy.
Sabah mineral prospecting licences are the subject of a massive corruption scandal, after multiple assemblypersons, including state ministers, were caught on video discussing alleged bribes with businessperson Albert Tei, who later blew the whistle on the alleged deals. - Mkini

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