Cash-rich PKR man defends 'blank' asset declaration

Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate Ramanan Ramakrishnan today dismissed questions about his wealth after having issued a declaration of assets worth RM63.5 million without giving the details of his income sources or a breakdown of the cash under his name.

The former MIC leader, who was chosen over veteran PKR lawyer R Sivarasa to represent PH in Sungai Buloh, said he felt there was no need to specify the details of his assets as his worth was already publicly known.

"I think no one wants to know how many rings I have, or how many shoes I have, or how many gold necklaces I have. That's not what they want to know," Ramanan said when met during a campaign trip in Kampung Melayu Subang.

A copy of his asset declaration was earlier published on a PKR website, listing his wealth under various categories including more than RM23 million in cash as well as jewellery worth RM4 million.

He also listed RM27 million in property, RM8.6 million in vehicles and RM3.5 million in stocks and insurance, leading to a total of RM63.5 million in net assets minus some RM2.5 million debts for housing and car loans and credit card balance.

However, he omitted the breakdown of these assets, leaving only arrows pointing towards the total, and giving no indication of how much he has in various bank accounts or the Employees Provident Fund.

Ramanan's asset declaration followed that of PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli, who controversially included some RM17 million in shares from PKR-linked company Invoke Solutions as part of his own assets.

Ramanan dismissed criticism over the lack of transparency in his declaration, and challenged his rivals to also declare their wealth.

"We are not doing an audit here. But more importantly, my opponents don't want to do this. Yet no one asks. To me that's funny," he said.