Selangor exco member Ean Yong Hian Wah has strongly denied allegations that his deceased aide, Teoh Beng Hock, was involved in any kickback scams as claimed by a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officer today.He said claims of taking commissions from several companies were false and funds received by those implicated - Teoh, DAP national headquarters, Serdang Aman and Sungai Long party branches - were legitimate.
"We have all the receipts to prove it," Ean Yong told reporters today at the State Secretariat building in Shah Alam.
Ean Yong said he was unable to furnish proof at this juncture because he was at Teoh's inquest this morning. However, he has promised to hold another press conference soon to clear the air.
Ean Yong was responding to MACC officer Mohd Anuar Ismail's allegations (mentioned this morning at the inquest) that the four parties had received commissions from certain companies.
The testimony was later expunged from the records by Magistrate Azmil Muntapha Abas, who is acting as coroner in the inquest, on grounds that the evidence was beyond the scope of the proceedings.
Reimbursements, not kickbacks
Questioned by MACC's counsel Abdul Razak Musa, Mohd Anuar detailed his findings based on his investigations on allegations that Selangor state reps had misappropriated state allocations for each state constituency.
Mohd Anuar who interrogated Teoh until 3.45 in the morning claimed that the deceased and his party DAP had been pocketing commissions from several companies that were granted small state projects.
Giving an example, Mohd Anuar claimed there were financial improprieties in a function organised to show support for Teresa Kok (right) who was at that time detained under the Internal Security Act.
Asked about Teoh's alleged kickback, Ean Yong vehemently denied the allegation, adding that the deceased was only claiming the cost for the banners that were printed for the function organised by the company.
He said that the money given to Serdang Aman DAP was also another case of reimbursement. In both instances, he said there are receipts to prove the innocence of both parties.
MACC-blog owner collusion?
Ean Yong also distributed copies of four invoices to reporters, referred in Mohd Anuar's testimony as invoices for non-existent projects.
He attached photographs to show that the projects were indeed completed and questioned the MACC's ability to gather proper information and assessed evidence.
"These documents and pictures are available at the land office. Why did they imply that some criminal act was involved? Is this a move to tarnish the DAP and Pakatan Rakyat?" asked Ean Yong.
He pointed out that the four invoices tendered at the inquest by Mohd Anuar were unsigned copies, said to be extracted from Teoh's laptop computer.
"They said these invoices were obtained from Teoh's laptop. The problem is, how did the 'black blog' obtain a copy?" asked Ean Yong, who stopped short of accusing the MACC of colluding with the blog.
Ean Yong was referring to the "Truth For Beng Hock" blog or commonly known as the 'black blog' among DAP circles, which has made a series of allegations that he and his exco colleague, Ronnie Liu, had a hand in Teoh's death.
The anonymous blog had also posted a series of confidential documents, including the accounts for the RM500,000 annual state allocation for each constituency.
Ean Yong and Liu (right) have both lodged police reports against the blog.
Allegations of Teoh and DAP branches receiving kickbacks were also published on the same blog several weeks ago.
Asked if legal action would be taken against Mohd Anuar and the MACC for the damaging allegations made at the inquest, Ean Yong said he would have to consult with his lawyers first.
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