Sabah challenged to reopen files on share-swap deal
By Queville To, Free Malaysia Today
KOTA KINABALU: Former Chief Minister Yong Teck Lee wants the state Barisan Nasional government to explain how its investment arm had lost RM114 million in a share-swap deal that went sour 12 years ago.
Yong said Resource Development and Information Technology Minister Dr Yee Moh Chai who questioned the massive loss when he was an opposition parliamentarian in 1998 is the best person to explain the Warisan Harta Sabah Sdn Bhd-North Borneo Timber Berhad share swap issue.
The controversial deal which was made over 12 years ago was resurrected this week when Warisan Harta CEO Rahman Ghani revealed last Monday that the state government’s investment arm was just recovering from the calamitous investment.
Yong, the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president, who was the CM at the time the deal was signed, wants Yee to launch a fresh investigation into the background of the share-swap.
“I assume he (Yee) thinks he has evidence of wrong doings committed by me as Chief Minister,” said Yong.
He warned that under Malaysia’s anti-corruption laws, it is an offence to conceal evidence of corruption.
“Yee, who is a minister now, has a duty to provide such evidence to the authorities. If he withholds evidence from the MACC, he is committing an offence.
“But if he has no evidence against me, then he has been lying for the last 12 years. Now, he has to make up his mind,” he said.
“Yee was personally digging for incriminating facts all over the places from Kota Kinabalu to Kuala Lumpur.
“Obviously, he did not succeed in getting any incriminating information about me because there was none. If he had any incriminating information against me, would he hold back?” asked Yong.
He was responding to Yee’s statement on Wednesday that since Yong was the chief minister at the time he should know the facts behind Warisan Harta, instead of passing the buck to him (Yee).
Yong also said that he remembered during the period of the 1998 court case on the so-called NBT-Warisan Harta Sdn Bhd issue, Yee and four other unidentified individuals had gone to the extent of harassing a company official and a police report had been lodged.
The truth about the legal suit
Yong is now accusing Yee of not telling the truth over the discontinuance of the previous court proceedings involving him and the latter.
“Yee has tried to make it seem he has nothing to do with the discontinuance and that I had unilaterally withdrawn the case,” he said.
He produced copies of the notes of proceedings which had been made available by the judge to both parties, which clearly indicated that both parties had mutually agreed not to continue with the proceedings.
Yong noted that prior to discontinuance of the court proceedings, discussions were held in the judge’s chambers and outside.
“Court litigation is a time consuming, tiring and costly affair. It is always my last option. But Yee’s personal attacks against me were so ferocious and malicious that I had no choice but to seek legal recourse to clear my name and defend my reputation,” he said.
