Cradle Fund CEO’s death remains shrouded in mystery

KUALA LUMPUR: The mysterious death of the former Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Nazrin Hassan on June 14 this year has yet to be solved, and has led to various speculations.

Nazrin, 48, was initially reported to have died after a mobile phone exploded while charging near his bed, which caused him to be trapped in a bedroom fire at Lorong PJU 7/24A, Mutiara Damansara, Petaling Jaya here at about midday.

The incident caused 30 per cent of his body to be burned, and a post-mortem was conducted at the Universiti Malaysia Medical Centre ( PPUM).

A forensic investigation by the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department ( FRD) however, revealed new evidence which pointed towards foul play.

On Aug 3, Selangor CID chief SAC Fadzil Ahmat then confirmed that Nazrin’s death was reclassified as a murder case under Section 302 of the Penal Code.

On Sept 4, police arrested Nazrin’s widow and her ex-husband to assist with investigations.

The 43-year- old woman was arrested at Taman Tun Dr Ismail near here at about 2.15am, a little over an hour after her ex-husband was picked up in Sepang.

Earlier on Aug 15, local newspapers reported that the woman had criticised the investigating bodies, claiming they were not transparent in investigating her husband’s murder and accused the FRD of making false claims.

Responding to the allegations, the Director General of FRD said the department had conducted a detailed investigation into the case in accordance with the set standard operating procedures ( SOPs) and results showed that there were criminal elements involved.

On Sept 8, two teenagers aged 14 and 16, who are also the stepchildren of Nazrin, were arrested by police at Taman Tun Dr Ismail at about 4pm, to assist investigations.

It was learned that the two adolescents were arrested after a forensic examination found two holes on Nazrin’s neck resembling the impact of an arrow. Nazrin’s step children are said to be skilled archers.

On Sept 23, police arrested the younger sister of Nazrin’s wife’s, along with the 39-year- old woman’s 41-year- old husband at Jalan Dato Sulaiman, Taman Tun Dr Ismail at 10.20pm.

All of them were released after investigations were conducted against them.

On Oct 8, Nazrin’s remains were exhumed from the Muslim Cemetery in Section 9, Kota Damansara and taken to PPUM for a second post-mortem after the Putrajaya Court of Appeal rejected the victim’s wife’s application to postpone the process.

The Petaling Jaya Magistrate’s Court had on Oct 1 allowed a police application to re- dig Nazrin’s grave to enable a second post-mortem to be carried out to assist investigations into the murder case.

On Nov 10, the police said they were still waiting for Nazrin’s second full post-mortem report before taking further action.

Nazrin’s remains were safely re-buried on Oct 15 in the same cemetery after undergoing a second post-mortem over eight days.

Three months prior to his death, Nazrin had lodged four police reports including that of death threats made against him, but all the reports were later withdrawn by himself.

Police investigations found that the threat in the form of a telephone call was allegedly made by one of Nazrin’s close relatives.

Cradle Fund is a company under the Ministry of Finance which aims to help fund and develop Malaysian tech startups.

Among the notable tech companies that received funding from Cradle are MyTeksi, which has now been renamed to Grab, and imoney. my.

Prior to his death, Nazrin had dedicated over 15 years of his life to promoting early- stage funding for tech companies. — Bernama