Saturday June 21, 2008
Yong under probe over RM5mil payout
KUALA LUMPUR: The Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) is investigating SAPP president Datuk Yong Teck Lee's role over the alleged payment of a RM5mil profit from the sale of shares belonging to a state-owned company to his agents in 1996 when he was the chief minister.
ACA director of investigations Datuk Shukri Abdul said the investigations, to be handled by the ACA headquarters, would cover abuse of power and the accepting of bribes.
“We will focus on the evidence presented by (former director of Briskmark Enterprise Sdn Bhd) Datuk Wasli (Mohd Said) in the High Court on Thursday.
“Everyone believed involved in the matter would be called up to record their statements, including Datuk Yong,” he said when closing a course to better equip ACA investigators with the latest techniques to detect and fight corruption.
Wasli told the court here that as the then general manager of Sabah Land Development Board (SLDB), he had met Yong regularly at his office to brief him about the proposed management buyout of 40% shares in Sapi Plantation owned by SLDB.
He was testifying in the trial of former Land and Cooperative Development Minister Tan Sri Kasitah Gaddam, who is alleged to have used his position as SLDB chairman for financial gain by taking part in the decision to approve the proposed sale of 16.8 million Sapi shares held by SLDB to Briskmark.
He said that besides Yong, he paid RM500,000 cash to each of the eight board members of Briskmark as a “donation”.
The board members were Datuk Salleh Otik, Datuk Ismail Jook, Abdul Kader Pateh, Laimun Laikim, Michael Emban, Talib Aning, John Liaw and Catherine Yong.
Reacting to the ACA's statement, Yong likened the probe to the Chinese saying – Sha Ji Jin Hou (Kill the chicken to warn the monkey).
Yong alleged that the sudden probe was deliberately done to instil fear and to ensure others toed the line
“The ACA director-general has stated today (yesterday) that I will be investigated over a 12-year-old case to which I gave my statement four or five years ago.
“Is this a warning to others?” he asked at a press conference, stating that this case has been going on for years in court.
He said he would not compromise with his party's cause and was prepared to face whatever action that was being planned by the ACA.
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