PETALING JAYA: Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Nazrin Hassan, who was found dead in his room at his house here on the eve of Hari Raya Aidilfitri, could be a victim of murder.
Police have reclassified the probe as murder following a forensic investigation report by the Fire and Rescue Department, which cited suspected foul play in the death.
Selangor CID chief Senior Asst Comm Fadzil Ahmat, when contacted yesterday, confirmed this.
“The sudden death report has been reclassified as murder under Section 302 of the Penal Code on Aug 3.
“This was made following a report by the Fire and Rescue Department and the findings of the post-mortem,” he said.
It was reported that traces of petrol were found in the deceased’s room following a lab report by the department.
On June 25, 11 days after Nazrin, 45, died with burn marks on 30% of his body, department director-general Mohammad Hamdan Wahid said the probe carried out jointly with the police had several new inputs, and certain samples had been taken to its forensic lab for further investigation.
Nazrin died of what was initially believed to be smoke inhalation after his room caught fire at his double-storey terraced house in Mutiara Damansara.
The fire was thought to have occurred after his mobile phone exploded while charging.
Nazrin apparently complained of a migraine and went to bed after taking some medication.
He left behind wife Samirah Muzaffar, a senior executive at the Malaysian Intellectual Property Corporation, their young son, three stepsons and a son from a previous marriage.
The Star reported on June 15 that Nazrin was the founding CEO of Cradle, the Finance Ministry company that manages the Cradle Investment Programme, which provides early-stage funding for startups.
Cradle gave grants first to successful startups like ride-hailing pioneer Grab (previously MyTeksi), and fintech startup iMoney.
Previously an entrepreneur himself, Nazrin was an early member of the Technopreneurs Association of Malaysia, one of the key drivers of the Malaysian Business Angel Network, and a member of the World Entrepreneurship Forum’s think tank.
Throughout his Cradle career, he not only touched the lives of many but also guided numerous businesses, the report added.
Police say the decision is based on the reports from the Fire and Rescue Department as well as the post-mortem.
KUALA LUMPUR: Police have confirmed that the death of Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd chief executive officer, Nazrin Hassan, on June 14 has now been classified as a murder case.
Selangor CID chief SAC Fadzil Ahmat said the case had been classified under Section 302 of the Penal Code last Friday.
“The decision was made based on the reports of the Fire and Rescue Department as well as the post-mortem,” he said in a statement today.
In June, it was reported that Nazrin had died in a fire at his residence in Petaling Jaya at about 12.20pm.
Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd in a statement then confirmed the post-mortem report concluded that Nazrin had died of complications from injuries suffered when a mobile phone that was being charged exploded.
Cradle Fund is a company under the Finance Ministry set up to develop technology entrepreneurs and ecosystem start-up companies in Malaysia.
It is the agency which provided initial funding for successful companies such as Grab (MyTeksi) and iMoney.
