G The Movie Official Teaser | DSG | Yasmin Nadiah | Director Swagadee | Sonic Films
Datuk Seri with a penchant for beauty pageants
CORPORATE NEWS
THE STAR
Friday, 9 Mar 20185:40 PM MYT
PETALING JAYA: The "Datuk Seri", who has been held in remand in connection to investigations into the RM6.3bil Penang Tunnel project is a high profile personality on the local Indian entertainment scene with a penchant for beauty pageants and culture.
A week before his detention by the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) on Feb 28, Datuk Seri N Gnanaraja was the guest of honour for a beauty pageant of Miss and Mrs India Malaysia Worldwide.
“He was one of those who sponsored the Miss and Mrs India Malaysia Worldwide pageant that was held last month. He came on time and stayed the whole night until the event was over,” said an organising member.
Gnanaraja is also among those who support Miss Cheongsam Malaysia and Miss Kebaya Malaysia and is active on the local Tamil entertainment scene, especially in the last one year.
“He made a movie and was active in events relating to local Indian artistes. He attracts attention because of the bodyguards around him,” said the organising member.
So far the mainstream media have not identified the Datuk Seri although his name has cropped up in social media. There are also questions over his titles.
Gnanaraja’s remand has been extended for a second time, for five days from March 5, to facilitate MACC’s investigations in relation to payments made to allegedly close investigations. The payments of RM19mil allegedly came from the contractor of the project last year to stop investigations.
Until 2014, Gnanaraja was largely viewed as a motivational speaker hailing from Johor.
His wife is Datuk G. Geethanjali, a deejay who had a Tamil programme focusing on Malaysian-Indian families living in poverty. She gained prominence for her social work and in 2013 attracted controversy when she was identified in the list of "Most Powerful Women in Malaysia".
The list was an advertorial paid for by a small firm. Geethanjali has denied reports that she was behind the advertorial.
The couple live in a posh bungalow along Jalan Gasing, Petaling Jaya, and is seen in public functions accompanied by bodyguards.
“Normally Gnanaraja holds his meetings in the house. Anybody who goes there would be impressed seeing the bodyguards, cars and high security,” said an MIC leader who declined to be named.
The MIC leader went to see Gnanaraja over a year ago during the height of the party crisis. The leader was told that Gnanaraja could fix matters by getting Putrajaya to recognise the team opposing party president Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam.
“After the second meeting, we had our doubts. We never saw him again,” said the MIC leader.
Gnanaraja’s biggest claim to fame has been a short stint on the board of low-cost carrier AirAsia Bhd
image: https://cdn.thestar.com.my/Themes/img/chart.png
. He was a director in the low-cost carrier from December 2015 to May 2016. No reasons were given for his retirement from the board of AirAsia on May 30, 2016.In AirAsia’s announcement to Bursa, Gnanaraja was described as someone with a strong record of helping businesses grow and transform with extensive expertise in general management, structured finance, corporate finance and bridge financing across multiple markets in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and India.
The 37-year old Gnanaraja holds a law degree from the University of Hertfordshire and was described in the announcement as senior advisor to a number of public and private companies in Asia Pacific.
However Gnanaraja, who got his "Dato Sri" title from the Pahang royalty, is not known to be on the board of any listed company on Bursa apart from his short stint in AirAsia.
He came out in public to distance himself from the owners of Venux FX in 2017. Venux FX, which acted as a front for trading in foreign exchange, collapsed end-2016. Some 23,257 investors lost RM80mil, according to the police.
According to reports, Gnanaraja and Geethanjali were supposed to deliver Venus FX a banking licence. In relation to this, a sum of RM7.2mil was paid to his company -- Yayasan Usaha Ventures Malaysia (MVEF).
According to a November 2016 report, Gnanaraja returned a sum of RM5mil, leaving an outstanding amount of RM2.2mil.
However Gnanaraja and Geethanjali have both refuted the allegations and distanced themselves from owners of Venux FX. They said that a sum of RM2.2mil was deposited into MVEF without their knowledge and the foundation was holding the money until they received the list of depositors from Venus FX.
Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2018/03/09/datuk-seri-with-a-penchant-for-beauty-pageants/#ZyRwlbMGKD7CIK7z.99
