De facto Law Minister Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz has been accused of acting with conflicting interests when he told Parliament that businessman Michael Chia had been cleared of corruption charges, because they appear to be friends.

The link between Nazri and Chia is in the form of a black Hummer SUV, which retails at over RM459,000, that is owned by Chia and may have been used by Nazri's eldest son Nedim.

NONE This claim was made today by PKR director of strategy Rafizi Ramli, who furnished a copy of a traffic ticket stating the owner of the Hummer as Chia Tien Woh.

Rafizi also released covertly obtained photographs to show that the vehicle was frequently spotted at the condo where NONE Nedim lives ( photo right ).

“Here you have a very high profile corruption and money-laundering case previously involving one chief minister and several jurisdictions, and the very person who cleared the Sabah chief minister’s and Chia’s name is the minister on whom we have found evidence that his family had received ... benefits from Chia.

“If this is not (graft), I don’t know what it is. At the very least, there is a question of conflict of interest, where he should take political and moral responsibility,” Rafizi said at a press conference at the Parliament lobby.

Nazri laughs it off

Following this, reporters immediately rushed to Nazri's office for comments, where he jovially laughed off any allegation of conflict of interest.

NONE Nazri explained that his written reply to Parliament on the matter came from the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), and neither answer to him.

"If I'm a High Court judge, and Michael Chia appears before me and my son drives his car, then I'm in trouble.

"I'm not a judge in Michael Chia's case. I'm not even the investigator. The MACC is (the investigator) in Michael Chia's case. I'm a minister replying in Parliament," Nazri said.

Answering questions jokingly, he said what happens between Chia and his son is none of his business because the latter is already an adult.

“I'm not gay. My son is not my wife, my son is not my lover, I don't sleep with him.”

He told reporters that questions about the veracity of Rafizi’s claim that Chia had given Nedim a car should instead be referred to the two of them.

“That’s between my son and Michael Chia... If he wants to give a Hummer or Ferrari, that’s Michael Chia’s business.”

However, he did admit that he does know Chia personally and had once travelled to Dubai with Chia, but at his own expense.

"I know Chia, (and) I'm not worried (about it)," he said.

Asked whether he was worried about the allegations, their potential effect on the BN and himself and whether he would take action against Rafizi, Nazri replied in the negative to all the questions.

When further quizzed whether the public would believe his explanation, Nazri said that was not his concern.

“You go ask my son. I cannot be responsible for my son. I don't screw him, I don't sleep with him. He sleeps with his wife, he's got a kid. So whatever he does, I don't know.”

'It does not bother me... I have film star status'

He said he wasn’t even inclined to answer to Rafizi, since he was not an MP and responded because reporters came to ask him.

“I don't really want to answer because he is not an MP... make sure he is an MP first then come and talk to me... of course, if an MP asks question I would answer, get into Parliament first.

“I don't want to stoop so low and be with him, but since you come and ask, I say,” he said.

He also told reporters, when asked, that he does not intend to take any action against PKR for stalking his son.

“Why should I? It does not bother me. I am popular. Do you know I have film star status here? Not a local one, Hollywood!” he said.

At the press conference earlier, Rafizi told reporters that Nedim had been placed under surveillance for “some time” after links between him and Chia emerged, and he furnished reporters with the findings.

NONE In addition to the unpaid speeding ticket issued on April 1, 2011, obtained from the myEG website, Rafizi released a blurry photograph of two persons standing next to the Hummer, which was parked outside Nedim’s purported residence in Damansara Heights.

Rafizi claimed that the two were Nedim’s driver and bodyguard, and showed another set of dark, blurry photographs purported to be the same individuals handling the family’s Toyota Vellfire van.

Although the Hummer’s licence plate is legible in the photographs, the facial features of the two men in them were not recognisable.

Rafizi claimed that the Hummer was the vehicle used for commuting between the condo and the Bangsar Shopping Complex, where Nedim supposedly operates an outlet.

To show that Nedim indeed lives at the Damansara Heights condo, Rafizi showed reporters a purported tweet from Nedim inviting his friends to the swimming pool there, along with a photograph of the pool.

He said a PKR team had visited the condo, posing as property investors, and took pictures of the area. They found the swimming pool to match that in Nedim’s tweet and in the condo's website.

No blanket denial, please

Mohamad Nedim Mohd Nazri Aziz Rafizi also warned Nazri against issuing a blanket denial of his accusations, or saying that he (Nazri) did know what his son was up to. Nazri should explain how and why Nedim ( right ) obtained and used Chia’s car.

“A year before, another senior minister used exactly the same excuse. In fact, that excuse has been repeated in court, in that she said she does not know anything about the business affairs of her husband and children.

“Politically, she suffered tremendously because the people can no longer tolerate that kind of excuse... A politician must not only be ‘white’ but also seen to be ‘white’,” Rafizi said.

While Rafizi did not name this minister, he was clear that he was referring to former women’s minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, who stepped down when her term as senator ended on March 11, at the height of the National Feedlot Corporation scandal in which her husband and children are implicated.

Rafizi promised reporters that video recordings of PKR’s surveillance would be released at a press conference tomorrow since the environment at the Parliament lobby was not conducive for screening them. A report would also be lodged with the MACC in the near future.

When the reporters pointed out that Nedim was not featured in any of the photographs he released so far, Rafizi said more evidence would be released connecting Nedim with the Hummer.

“Of all the photographs we have given you, it is true that Nedim is not in the car. As I said, after some surveillance, the car was found to be used largely by his bodyguard and driver.

“Nedim drives a sports car. He doesn’t drive the Hummer, it is only for the bodyguard and the driver. He moves around in a convoy, with the sports car in front and the Hummer at the back,” Rafizi said.

Transcript: Why Nazri is not worried