‘Whistleblower slain by hired killers’

According to Raja Petra Kamarudin, businessman Patrick Wong did not fall off his house balcony when attempting to escape robbers. The deceased, claimed the blogger, was strangled and thrown off.

PETALING JAYA: A businessman compiling evidence on the alleged corruption in the Pakatan Rakyat Selangor government was murdered by hired killers, claims Raja Petra Kamarudin.

The blogger in an article published in Malaysia Today today said it took him three years to get to the truth regarding the death of contractor Patrick Wong, whom the police claimed suffered a fatal fall from his house balcony when attempting to flee from robbers.

“A good friend of mine was murdered and I want to know the reason why. And now, after almost three years, I am in possession of the tangible evidence that reveals the ‘official’ story,” he wrote.

Raja Petra said that he met the deceased and his wife when the couple visited the UK in October 2009, more than a year after the opposition bloc seized control of Selangor.

During the meeting, the businessman had, among others, raised the sand mining scandal, which erupted in the following year.

“The sand mining business was one of the cash cows of the previous state government… Instead of putting this cash cow to sleep, some people in PKR took it over and were milking it dry,” he added.

Raja Petra, who is based in Manchester, said he heard about the scandal when he was still in Malaysia and both Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim and Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim were aware of it.

The blogger said he told Wong that he would not be able to publish the matter on his Malaysia Today news portal without evidence and the latter had agreed to be his whistleblower, promising to compile the necessary proof.

“He asked me to give him a month and probably by the end of November (2009), I would have a complete dossier revealing those in the state government involved in the sand mining syndicate.

“Sad to say, that never happened. A couple of weeks later, Wong was murdered,” he added.

‘Deep Throats confirmed it was murder’

Raja Petra said that when he was notified about Wong’s death, he immediately telephoned his contacts in the police and underworld.

“My Deep Throats confirmed that the assassins who murdered Wong were hired killers. It was not a robbery, it was an assassination ‘related to some business matters’, my contacts told me.

“I trust my Deep Throats more than I trust the government. And if they say that Wong was murdered by hired killers, then that is the story I am going to believe,” he added.

Furthermore, Raja Petra claimed that the official version was riddled with holes.

“The doctor’s report said that the cause of death was a ‘blunt force trauma to the head with compression of the neck’. My Deep Throats told me that Wong was strangled and then thrown off the balcony.

“The police said he accidentally fell while trying to escape. How do they then account for the compression of the neck (meaning strangled) if he accidentally fell from the balcony?” he asked.

According to the blogger, the police had given Wong’s widow the cold shoulder when she met them because the deceased was considered to be a Pakatan supporter since Anwar’s daughter and PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah attended the funeral.

“Does this mean the police were not interested in properly investigating Wong’s murder since he was a Pakatan supporter? Actually, Wong was not a Pakatan supporter. He was a Malaysia Today supporter.

“In fact, he was not happy with what was going on in Selangor under the Pakatan government and that was why he wanted me to do something about it: such as expose the sand mining syndicate,” he said.

Was the ‘murder’ related to the scandal?

Meanwhile, Raja Petra said three men were arrested in connection with the case. One was charged and the others were released due to “lack of evidence”.

The blogger noted that police investigation had revealed that two others were also involved but the pair “could not be traced”.

According to the investigation, he said, one of them was a gambling syndicate boss and despite the police knowing his background, they were unable to locate him.

In an obvious reference to former inspector-general of police Musa Hasan, the blogger added: “Now we know why he ‘could not be traced’. Guess who is the ultimate boss of the gambling syndicate? And no prize for the right guess! Hint: he shares the same name as the Prophet Moses.”

Raja Petra said although he would never be able to get the police to rectify the injustice with regard to Wong’s death, he could however honour the deceased by doing what the latter wanted.

“I could at least get justice for Wong by doing the last thing that he wanted me so much to do just before he died: and that was to expose the sand mining syndicate in Selangor,” he added.

However, the blogger also said that he was uncertain if Wong’s “murder” was related to the sand mining scandal.

“I really don’t know if Wong was murdered because he was getting too close to the truth… or even if his murder had anything to do with the sand mining syndicate in the first place.

“But I am a person with a suspicious mind. The fact that he was murdered (and the police are covering up this fact) at the time he was working on getting the evidence I needed, makes me want to suspect that a lot of money changed hands to make this murder appear like a robbery gone wrong,” he added.

Following this, Raja Petra vowed to reveal the details behind the sand mining scandal with names and evidence of payments made to certain Pakatan leaders.

The blogger also claimed that he was warned not to make this revelation because the man behind those who “murdered” Wong was a powerful triad boss who had the “police in his pocket”.

“Well, let me put it this way: if what happened to Wong happens to me, then it would just confirm what I am saying even more. So bring it on. I live in Manchester in case you need to look for me,” he said.