Clare Rewcastle Brown denies she alleged Umno paid PAS RM90 million

Anwar Ibrahim, however, says he has a copy of the cheque

(FMT) – Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle Brown has disputed a claim that she had confirmed a RM90 million payment by Umno to PAS in the years before the previous general election.

She told FMT that she had only confirmed that there was evidence to prove that PAS was paid.

However, the RM90 million figure was a red herring, she said. The figure had also been cited in a defamation suit against her in 2017.

“The actual amount is difficult to determine given that the sum was transferred in cash,” she said in response to a report lodged with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission by a state assemblyman from DAP.

The complaint was against PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang for alleged corruption, money laundering and tax evasion. It was filed after DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng had urged Hadi to explain a RM1.4 million settlement with Rewcastle Brown in his defamation suit against her.

Lim said a video making the rounds on social media had featured Rewcastle Brown confirming that PAS received RM90 million from Umno.

However, Rewcastle Brown told FMT that the amount of RM90 million had come up in a question, but she clarified that she had confirmed only that money was paid.

“The point was that the two parties were concealing the alliance they had forged and which they later admitted to but only after the election. So they deceived their voters,” she said.