Report made with MACC against TMI

Graft-buster urged to probe portal’s funding

PETALING JAYA: A report has been lodged with the Malaysian Anti- Corruption Commission against online portal The Malaysian Insight (TMI), which in turn, is claiming that its statement to authorities has been leaked.

Jaringan Melayu Malaysia (JMM) lodged a report against the portal with the commission yesterday, claiming that there were irregularities over its funding.

“We want the commission to investigate whether the money received by TMI was through corruption or the possibility that there is an agenda behind the funds from overseas,” said JMM president Datuk Azwanddin Hamzah.

He claimed that RM3mil had been given to TMI with no proper transaction records indicating where the money came from.

“We received a complaint from ‘myaduan rasuah’ and also obtained a few documents which we believe are authentic and was given by a source in TMI,” he said.

Azwanddin alleged that he had records showing that the company’s funding was mainly from Hong Kong through a firm called Inside Asia Pte Ltd, of which TMI chief executive officer and editor Jahabar Sadiq was also chief executive.

He also accused the portal of not being consistent with the news articles published and of undermining the Government, insulting the Prime Minister and threatening the country’s economy.

In a press conference on Thursday, Azwanddin also alleged that he had proof from the Companies Commission of documents identifying Puan Sri Faridah Begum Abdul Kader as a director of Inside Media Sdn Bhd, the holding company for TMI.

Faridah is Jahabar’s sister and the wife of Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali.

“We want the authorities to investigate the connection,” he said.

In a TMI report, Jahabar claimed that a statement given to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) had been leaked.

He lodged a report at the Sri Hartamas police station yesterday, claiming that his statement was reported in the Malaysian Gazette on Thursday, quoting Azwanddin.

In the report, Jahabar accused Azwanddin of leaking and twisting several facts he made in his statement to MCMC and that he was concerned about his personal details.

“I think anybody who gives a statement to a Government agency knows that they don't get a copy of it. So, they can make all kinds of allegations and I will ask the police to investigate,” he said.

MCMC is investigating the news portal over reports that it had insulted the Prime Minister and over articles deemed critical of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Bank Negara’s foreign exchange losses in the 1990s.