Ex-SUPP chief cries foul over 'RM1m cheques from Najib' images

A former Sarawak political leader has criticised Sarawak Report for publishing images of cheques amounting to RM1 million purportedly issued by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to his party.

However, Peter Chin (photo) neither denied nor confirmed if the matter was true.

The ex-Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP) president said the publication of the images at a time when Sarawak is facing its election was aimed at disparaging the image of SUPP and its candidates.

"This publication by Sarawak Report is, in my view, an effort to cast negative aspersions on the SUPP leadership then and now, hoping to mislead voters from voting on current issues which are important to the people of Sarawak," he added in a media statement.

Chin, who led SUPP from 2012 to 2014, described this as the work of the opposition.

Urging voters not to be swayed, he said the issue was another example of "coordinated attacks with international parties meddling in the Sarawak election".

"I want to assure every voter that SUPP has not done anything wrong under the existing laws of our country," he added.

Sarawak Report, in its latest article, had published the images of two cheques bearing payments purportedly made by Najib to SUPP in 2012 and 2013.

The whistleblower site said this raised questions as to why the prime minister was making personal donations to a local Sarawak party.

Meanwhile, Chin said SUPP's information technology team, based at its headquarters in Kuching, is working on verifying the authenticity of the images in question.

"The date on the image of the cheque (blurred in a few spots) was sometime in 2013.

"I want to stress that party funding responsibilities has always been squarely on the shoulders of the party president," he added.

In March, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) had cited bank records which detailed how payments allegedly made by Najib went to political affiliates in the run up to the last general election, which included SUPP. -Mkini