Even as the clock ticked down on a 7-day deadline, popular Malaysian actress Zahida Rafik was unfazed. Perhaps she knew she would be 'well-protected and announced plans to take legal action against her accusers.
With an imperious toss of her head, the starlet dismissed allegations that she had received RM1.5 million from an Umno minister with whom she was said to be in an "intimate relationship" and who had splurged RM3 mil to buy her a luxury bungalow in Ampang.
The scandal came to a boil after Opposition lawmakers, PKR MP for Ampang Zuraida Kamaruddin and PKR MP for Subang Sivarasa Rasiah, told a press conference that the minister, a Muslim, had lavished RM1.5 million on the actress over a period of just 4 months.
They urged the minister to come clean and account to the public on how he could afford such a lifestyle on his Cabinet pay. Otherwise, they would reveal his identity. Even though the PKR leaders have not revealed any names yet, the alleged affair has been an open secret for months, especially after the actress's driver lodged a police report exposing the duo.
The driver, Noor Azman Azemi, lodged the complaint on March 13, following an accusation by the actress that he had absconded with RM200,000of her company's funds. He claimed that the Umno minister, who hired him, had an "intimate relationship" with Zahida spanning three years.
Afraid of reprisals, a relative of the driver then sought Zuraida's help and gave her a copy of the report. In the police report, the driver called himself the "trusted middleman" who helped channel the funds into the personal account of the actress.
Let Allah be my judge