DAP MP refutes fund abuse, says uses own money

(MM) – DAP’s Teresa Kok denied today a former aide’s allegation of misusing party funds in the run-up to Election 2013, accusing Tony Tan instead of attempting to defame her.

The Seputeh MP claimed that Tan’s latest claims were part of a long-running campaign he had against her since he was sacked as her aide in 2007.

“I have to maintain my service centre, we use every sen donated by the public in a very prudent manner.

“Because when I don’t have enough funds, I have to come up with my own money to manage my service centre that costs me a lot,” she told reporters outside the Brickfields police headquarters here.

She added that it costs RM14,000 monthly to maintain her service centre.

The DAP vice-chairman also said Tan had been served a court notice last week to pay her RM200,000 in damages for failure to establish his defamation case against her.

Earler, Kok had lodged a police report against Tan — a former DAP member — and another DAP member, Danny Leong accusing the duo of criminal defamation, which she said is an offence under Section 500 of the Penal Code.

Earlier, Kok lodged a police report against former DAP member Tan and Danny Leong, who is still with the party, accusing the duo of criminal defamation, which she said is an offence under Section 500 of the Penal Code.

On Monday, Leong lodged a complaint with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) over the alleged misuse of some RM400,000 in party funds.

Tan previously made similar allegations against Kok.

Today, she reiterated that claims of misusing funds during her campaign surfaced after she decided to appoint a campaign manager who was not the unanimous choice of members within her division.

The 49-year-old, who is into her sixth consecutive term as Seputeh MP, noted that despite discontent from within, she decided to compile a full report of her campaign expenditure and had it audited independently at the cost of RM2,000, before presenting it to party members.