Whistleblower Files Counter Report Against Arifin Says Willing To Be Arrested

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The businessperson who exposed the alleged Sabah corruption scandal has filed a counter-police report against Membakut assemblyperson Arifin Arif, asserting that an offer was made to settle the matter.
In the report, a copy of which was provided to Malaysiakini, the whistleblower stated that he is willing to be arrested and charged if investigations prove his allegations false.
Conversely, the businessperson demanded that Arifin, who is the son-in-law of Sabah governor Musa Aman, be brought to court if it is determined that he filed a false police report.
“I urge the police to take strict action and conduct an immediate investigation regarding the false police report that was made under Section 182 of the Penal Code.
“All witnesses from my side who are involved in this matter are ready to fully cooperate and provide all necessary evidence.
“If the police investigation finds me guilty, please arrest and charge me in court immediately. However, if it is found that the individual in question has made a false police report, please take the appropriate action,” he stated in the report lodged with the Bandar Puteri police station in Serdang this morning.
Sabah’s Science, Technology, and Innovation Minister Arifin ArifThe whistleblower also detailed the “chronology of events” with regard to the alleged settlement offer in his report, similar to what Malaysiakini had published.
WhatsApp evidence
The businessperson also furnished the news portal with more than 50 screenshots of WhatsApp conversations related to the alleged settlement.
In his report, the whistleblower said he is prepared to submit all the screenshots to the police to facilitate their investigations.
His police report comes less than 24 hours after Arifin filed a report in Kota Kinabalu, alleging that the Malaysiakini article was slanderous.
The Sabah science, technology, and innovation minister, who was one of those accused of accepting bribes from a businessperson for mineral exploration licences, described the article as “inaccurate, misleading, and contains facts that are wrong and slanderous”.
He further accused the businessperson of being part of a cartel attempting to monopolise mining licences in the state.
“Therefore, I am taking legal action against those who slander and collude with the cartel’s bid to monopolise mining licences in Sabah,” he told reporters after lodging the report.
Arifin also claimed that Malaysiakini had not contacted him for verification of the whistleblower’s claims before publishing the report.
For the record, Malaysiakini reached out to him for comments at 9.18am on Monday, as well as to a senior aide to Chief Minister Hajiji Noor and several others implicated in the article, before publishing the report at 4pm that evening. No responses were received before publication.
Settlement offer claim
The article in question, which quoted the whistleblower, stated that Arifin had purportedly claimed he had the mandate to negotiate a settlement.
The whistleblower alleged that he was informed that the revoked licences would be reinstated if he declared that the funds involved were not bribes but political donations.
The alleged pre-written statement for the whistleblowerThe businessperson also claimed he was given a pre-written statement - which he shared with Malaysiakini - asserting that he had provided similar funds to assemblypersons from Umno, Star, and PBS.
Hajiji, who was also implicated in the scandal, denied the corruption allegations against his state government, suggesting that the whistleblower was colluding with individuals with vested interests seeking to topple his administration.. - Mkini

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