Sabah Glc Anwar S Ex Aide Deny Report On Mineral Prospecting Licence

---

 


State-owned Sabah Mineral Management Sdn Bhd (SMM) has denied that any company linked to the prime minister's former aide, Farhash Wafa Salvador Rizal Mubarak, was granted a prospecting licence in the state.
Farhash also issued a denial, as well as a cease and desist letter against MalaysiaNow over its article, which made the allegation.
SMM CEO Natasha Sim said that based on records, no companies owned or linked to Farhash (above) had been awarded such a licence.
This included Bumi Suria Sdn Bhd and Borneo Bumi Sdn Bhd.
ADS“None,” she told Malaysiakini, stressing that SMM does not have the authority to issue licences.
When contacted, Farhash replied with a one-liner: "Fake news."
Sim and Farhash were responding to a MalaysiaNow report alleging that Bumi Suria was awarded a mining exploration licence in Sabah on 70,000ha in the Kalabakan and Gunung Rara forest reserves near the Kalimantan border.
This is an area almost three times the size of Kuala Lumpur.
The article cited alleged official documents and letters exchanged between SMM and Bumi Suria.
Corruption scandal
Malaysiakini's checks on official company records found that Bumi Suria is owned by Borneo Bumi, which in turn is owned by Farhash and Aminudin Mustapha. The duo serve as directors on both companies.
The cease and desist letter that Farhash's lawyers sent to MalaysiaNow called its article defamatory, and the allegations therein false.
They are demanding that the article be retracted and a public apology be made.
Farhash had previously served as Anwar Ibrahim’s political secretary before the latter became prime minister.
Sabah mineral prospecting licences are the subject of a massive corruption scandal, after multiple assemblypersons, including state ministers, were caught on video discussing alleged bribes with businessperson Albert Tei - who later blew the whistle on the alleged deals.
Two Sabah politicians, state assistant minister Andi Suryady Bandy and Qhazanah Sabah chairperson Yusof Yacob, have been charged with taking RM350,000 in bribes from Tei.
ADSTei has also been charged with giving bribes.
Sabah whistleblower, businessperson Albert TeiSim herself is embroiled in scandal following the emergence of a photograph allegedly showing her, SMM company secretary Nancy Chong, and Sabah timber baron Elbert Lim posing with luggage beside a private jet said to belong to an Indonesian coal magnate.
Although she earlier dismissed her predecessor Jontih Enggihon’s claim that she and her husband had joined the others on a lavish, RM400,000 sponsored holiday, Sim has yet to address the now-viral photograph. - Mkini

---