KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 22 — A Malaysian businessman who claims descent from Javanese royalty has alleged that he has some €5 trillion (RM20 trillion) in savings, which would make him the world’s first trillionaire and the world’s richest man by far.
Perak-born Kamal Ashnawi, who heads Sierra Petroleum Sdn Bhd, disclosed this at a press conference here yesterday where he showed reporters a copy of a bank statement from HSBC London, Utusan Malaysia reported today.
The riches were inherited from the Combined International Collateral of the Global Debt Facility set up in 1875 by the world’s royal families, he claimed.
Forbes magazine lists Mexican telco tycoon Carlos Slim Helú as the world’s richest man, with an estimated net worth of US$63.3 billion (RM196.5 billion) in 2011.
Coming in a close second on the rich list is Microsoft founder Bill Gates, whose net worth is reported to be US$59 billion (RM182.3 billion).
In comparison, Malaysia’s richest man, Ananda Krishnan, has a net worth of only US$9.6 billion (RM29.8 billion).
Kamal had called the press conference to refute allegations following the failure of a crude oil processing plant in Kuala Kedah he had proposed in 2005, the Malay-language daily reported.
“This is my last offer to help Malays and companies by investing in three projects in Perlis, Johor and Kelantan in the near future,” he was quoted as saying.
The projects comprise a commercial tourism centre in Kuala Perlis, a Pirates of the Caribbean theme park in Danga Bay, Johor Bahru and a commerical project in Kelantan.
They will be spearheaded by SAS Group, a group of alumni from Sekolah Alam Shah, where Kamal had gone to school.
Since the failure of the proposed Kuala Kedah plant, Kamal has spent much of his time overseas. He said yesterday he intends to reside in Hong Kong for a few years starting in March before moving to Indonesia.
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