Malaysian influencer Vivy and husband claim trial in Khazanah-linked embezzlement case
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Fashion influencer Vivy Yusof and her husband Fadzarudin Shah Anuar were charged with criminal breach of trust on Dec 5.
PHOTO: BERITA HARIAN FILE
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KUALA LUMPUR – Fashion influencer Vivy Yusof, the entrepreneur behind Malaysia’s luxury scarf brand dUCk, and her husband pleaded not guilty on Dec 5 to charges of misusing funds invested in their company by two government-linked firms.
Vivy and Fadzarudin Shah Anuar, both 36, allegedly transferred RM8 million (S$2.4 million) in August 2018 from the accounts of online fashion retailer FashionValet to 30 Maple – the parent company of dUCk – without the approval of FashionValet’s board of directors.
The couple hold a stake in FashionValet, which they co-founded, and the online fashion retailer owns 30 Maple. FashionValet’s investors included Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional and state-owned asset manager Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB).
Vivy and Fadzarudin were charged with criminal breach of trust (CBT) on Dec 5.
If found guilty, they may be sentenced to a maximum prison term of 20 years, caning and a fine, according to the charge sheet. But under civil law, women are exempt from caning.
Their bail was set at RM100,000 each. The case will be mentioned on Jan 22.
Khazanah and PNB had lost a total of RM43.9 million after pouring RM47 million into FashionValet’s e-commerce platform six years ago.
On Nov 2, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is Khazanah’s chairman, ordered the sovereign wealth fund to probe the losses.
This was after the Finance Ministry had said in a written reply to parliamentary questions on Oct 28 that the two entities invested RM47 million in 2018 and sold their stakes in 2023 for RM3.1 million.
After public outcry over loss-making investments, Vivy and Fadzarudin announced their resignation from FashionValet on Nov 1.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission raided the offices of FashionValet, the Finance Ministry, Khazanah and PNB on Nov 4.
The commission said on Nov 7 that it had found several suspicious transactions in its investigation into the investment deal, from 2018 to 2023.
The scarves sold by dUCk, favoured by many Malaysian women, are often seen as the country’s answer to the designer silk scarves of French luxury brand Hermes.
A chiffon tudung with Swarovski crystals on the brand’s website costs RM400. Others are priced at around RM250 – a hefty sum in Malaysia, where hijabs can be bought for RM10 elsewhere.
Local media reported that dUCk’s most expensive scarves in the past have sold for between RM800 and RM2,500.
