RAFIZI MAKES STARTLING REVELATION – EVEN AS CLARE’S LAWYER CONFIRMS BANK ISLAM CHEQUE FOR RM1.4MIL WAS CLEARED BY MAYBANK: BANK ISLAM ACCOUNT NOT FAKE & UNDER THE NAME OF ONE ‘RAMELI MUSA’ – ANOTHER HADI SUPPORTER TO BE HAULED UP BY MACC?

THE money used to pay Sarawak Report for its legal fees to settle PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang’s defamation suit came from the bank account of a person named Rameli Musa, said former Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli.

Rafizi said this in response to claims by PAS that the RM1.4 million paid to Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown had come from a fake account.

The PKR politician said he analysed the numbers on cheques issued by Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd and the photo of a Bank Islam cheque used to pay RM1.4 million to the account of Rewcastle-Brown’s lawyer in trust for the British journalist.

Rafizi also said he transferred money to the account number in the photo of the cheque and in the settlement agreement with Hadi, and found it to be legitimate.

“I transferred RM10 to the (Bank Islam) account number that was stated in the Rewcastle-Brown and Hadi settlement agreement and the account exists under the name Rameli Musa.

“The transfer also went through. This proves that the account that was noted in the agreement exists, and so too the RM1.4 million,”   said Rafizi in a statement today.

The former Pandan MP was responding to PAS members who said he was spreading lies that Hadi had paid Rewcastle RM1.4 million to withdraw his defamation suit against her.

Rafizi said he had verified the account number by comparing it with three different cheques from Bank Islam.

PAS information chief Nasrudin Hassan says the account number on a cheque allegedly used to pay Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown was false. – The Malaysian Insight file pic, March 1, 2019.

Earlier today, PAS information chief Nasrudin Hassan Tantawi said the bank account number on the cheque used to pay Rewcastle was fake.

“Some people have checked the account number (in the photo) by attempting to make transfers of RM5 and RM1 to the account, but the account does not exist,” he said on Facebook.

PAS vice-president Idris Ahmad also said Sarawak Report’s confirmation of receiving the RM1.4 million was insufficient and called on Rewcastle-Brown to furnish more proof.

PAS has been adamant that neither the party nor Hadi had to pay Sarawak Report anything as part of the settlement agreement to Hadi’s defamation suit over a report the website published in 2016, alleging PAS had received RM90 million from Umno before the 14th general election.

Rewcastle-Brown’s lawyer Americk Sidhu, meanwhile, said there was no way the bank account used to transfer RM1.4 million to his client could have been fake.

Speaking to Malaysiakini, he said the cheque was genuine or the bank would not have cleared it. He also said that he personally witnessed the cheque being written but would not state who the account holder was. – THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT

Clare’s lawyer: If account fake, bank made huge mistake

Lawyer Americk Sidhu has dismissed PAS’ claim that a Bank Islam account used to transfer RM1.4 million to his client, Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown, was fake.

“I confirm this cheque was cleared through my clients’ account with Maybank, which means the cheque must have been genuine or the clearing bank made a huge mistake,” he told Malaysiakini.

Americk added that the cheque was written in front of him but declined to reveal who the account holder was.

Earlier, PAS information chief Nasrudin Hasan said attempts to transfer funds to the Bank Islam account mentioned by Sarawak Report had failed.

Social media users have also disputed the account number since it only has 10 digits, compared to the 14 digits of a regular Bank Islam account number.

The account number was shown in one of the documents published by Sarawak Reportyesterday to rebut claims that Hadi had not paid to settle his defamation suit against Rewcastle-Brown.

Rewcastle-Brown said she had agreed to Hadi’s condition that both parties keep the payment confidential.

However, she added, it became untenable to maintain the confidentiality agreement when PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan insisted that no payment had been made.

“Hadi should not have been discussing details of the settlement payment with a member of PAS at all.

“Takiyuddin’s representations on Hadi’s behalf is a flagrant and repudiatory breach of the confidentiality agreement, which is particularly egregious as it is untrue.

“Sarawak Report therefore is entitled to consider itself released from confidentiality also, in order to be able to tell the truth to the Malaysian people who are being misled,” she said. – MKINI

THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT / MKINI