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Nicky Liow showed up to a press conference on Tuesday (28 July) with a lawyer, a prepared Q&A document, and a very simple explanation.
He was at a PKR fundraiser, bought an Angkatan Muda Keadilan (AMK) shirt, and wore it.
That’s it, that’s the story, except it isn’t.
The trouble began when former PKR Batu branch chief Asheeq Ali Sethi Alivi posted an image on social media — a man resembling Liow, standing beside Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at what appeared to be a PKR-linked fundraising event.
The image was later deleted from the Facebook page of the Yee Aik Banting Selangor Welfare Association, one of the organisations present that day.
Nobody explained who deleted it, or why.
Before The Fundraiser, There Was A Fugitive Hunt
Liow Soon Hee is the founder of Winner Dynasty Group.
He is also the man Malaysian police once identified as the alleged leader of a criminal syndicate linked to Macau scam operations.
In March 2021, authorities launched Op Pelican 3.0 — a nationwide dragnet that netted 68 gang members, but Liow was not among them; he went into hiding.
He was charged in absentia.
He surrendered a year later, in April 2022, walking into the Bukit Aman commercial crime investigation department voluntarily — after the warrant had already been issued and his name was public.
Liow was charged the next day with 26 counts of money laundering involving over RM36 million.
The Pahang Palace had already stripped him of his Datuk Seri title the previous year.
How The Charges Went Away
His lawyer, Datuk Rajpal Singh, handled most of the talking at Tuesday’s press conference.
Rajpal explained that the money laundering charges — all 26 of them, involving RM36 million — were resolved (a discharge not amounting to an acquittal or DNAA) after Liow settled outstanding taxes with the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN).
The NST subsequently reported that the Attorney-General’s Chambers accepted a representation letter from Liow’s defence team, and he was released on 15 June, 2023.
The amount he paid to settle his tax obligations: RM400,000.
For context, Liow’s younger brother Wei Kin faced similar charges and paid RM4.147 million — in unpaid taxes, special penalty, fine, and compound — to resolve his case, while Liow paid RM400,000.
To be clear, a DNAA is not a conviction; it is also not an acquittal, and the case can, in theory, be reopened; Rajpal described the matter as resolved, while the news report described Liow as “fully acquitted.”
Those are two different things, and the distinction matters.
Back To The Shirt
At the press conference, Rajpal explained that Liow attended following an open invitation to NGOs, and took photos with the Prime Minister after the VIP area was opened to the public.
As for the shirt — Rajpal said it was given free after a charity donation.
Liow later told reporters he purchased it, and the story shifted between Tuesday afternoon and Tuesday evening.
PKR Secretary-General Datuk Fuziah Salleh confirmed Liow is not a party member.
No special invitation, no affiliation.
A man once charged with laundering RM36 million walked into a press conference, said he bought a shirt at a charity event, and left asking only one thing — that nobody raise it again.
That’s a remarkably modest request from someone who spent a year as a fugitive, lost a royal title, and resolved a RM36 million case for a fraction of what his own brother paid.
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