PETALING JAYA: The death of 45-year-old Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd (Cradle) group chief executive officer Nazrin Hassan has been reclassified as murder.

When contacted by The Star on Monday (Aug 6), Selangor CID chief Senior Asst Comm Fadzil Ahmat confirmed this.

“The case has been reclassified under Section 302 of the Penal Code on Aug 3.

“This follows a report by the Fire and Rescue department, and the results of the post-mortem,” he said when contacted on Monday (Aug 6).

Nazrin died of what was initially believed to be smoke inhalation after a fire in the top floor of his double-storey semi-detached house in Mutiara Damansara here on June 14.

The incident happened around 12.30pm after Nazrin had complained of a migraine and went to bed after taking some medication.

In the incident, the Fire and Rescue Department said it received a report at 12.30pm and despatched two fire engines and 14 firemen to the scene.

They arrived at 12.46pm and the fire was put out at 12.53pm.

It was initially reported that his handphone had exploded while it was being charged.

The Malay Mail, quoting sources, said that traces of petrol were found after lab tests were conducted.

Cradle is the Ministry of Finance company that manages the Cradle Investment Programme (CIP), which provides early stage funding for startups. It was originally a programme under Malaysia Venture Capital Management Berhad (Mavcap) before being spun off in 2007, with Nazrin being named as its first CEO.

It was the agency that gave early funding to companies 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 (TeAM). He was one of the key drivers of the Angel Tax Incentive and the Malaysian Business Angel Network (MBAN), and a member of the World Entrepreneurship Forum’s (WEF) think-tank.

Nazrin also served as a board member of the Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC) from its inception in April 2014 to February 2015.