Rafizi explains RM2 mil of savings by 30, Invoke's growth
PETALING JAYA - PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli has revealed that he had more than RM2 million in cash by the age of 30 which was used for a start-up company to accumulate assets of RM18.9 million as declared recently.
He also denied allegations of him using public funds to accumulate wealth.
"At the age of 26, my starting salary at Petronas was RM3,750. After six months, I was confirmed as a manager and the salary rose to RM11,000 a month and a year later, I was promoted as the Petrochemical Planning Division Head and at the age of 27, I was earning RM25,000 per month.
"At the same time, Petronas shortened the service period and retirement age from 60 years to 55 years, so I was paid RM400,000 compensation at the age of 29 for the shortened five years of service.
"I was also in the oil and gas industry when the price of oil rose sharply and the annual bonus was huge, and during my seven years at Petronas, my average annual bonus was between 10 to 12 months a year.
"That's why I had savings of RM2 million by the age of 30 and these savings were used for a start-up company.
"As an outspoken opposition figure, if there is fraud or malfeasance, of course I have long been investigated and charged in court by the BN and Perikatan Nasional (PN) government, just as Datuk Seri Najib Razak was charged for offences involving the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN), " he said at a press conference here on Wednesday.
He said this while commenting on claims By Batu Pahat incumbent, Datuk Rashid Hasnon, who questioned whether Rafizi's wealth was using public funds collected ahead of the last 14th General Election (GE14).
This comes after Rafizi ran campaigns raise public donations using Invoke Solutions Sdn Bhd established in 2016 for the use of PKR and Pakatan Harapan (PH) in GE14.
Commenting further, Rafizi said that all public funds amounting to RM11 million have been used to finance the GE14 campaign for PKR candidates.
"All of Invoke's outcomes up to 2018 have been fully spent to finance the GE14 campaign which contributed to PH's victory and gave place to former PKR elected representatives who jumped like Rashid Hasnon himself.
"After GE14 ended and all funds were fully spent, I had no other choice but to convert Invoke's model into a commercial one and issue new shares to investors to enable Invoke's 150-strong staff to retain their skills.
"All these records, from my salary and income, Invoke's financial and taxation statements are with all the authorities," he said.
In the meantime, Rafizi explained, Invoke did not record a profit in 2019 after becoming a commercial company but has recorded a profit every year since 2020.
He said the propaganda of BN and PN that claimed Invoke suffered losses was only because they did not understand how to read the full financial statement.
"Invoke's profit by year: financial year 2020 (RM507,000), financial year 2021 (RM653,000) and expected profit for financial year 2022 (RM1.5 million).
"Among startups and technology companies around the world, the ability to generate profit from the ground up is a good feat as over 90 percent of startups are not even profitable after five years of operation.
"Invoke's last share issue in 2022 is valued at RM75 million. This value is actually lower than the official value made by Cradle, an official government agency that values Invoke at RM105 million," he said.
