Former Negeri Sembilan menteri besar Mohamad Hasan says there was no wrongdoing in his transfer of RM10 million to London in 2008 via a money changer.
Mohamad said Negeri Sembilan Legislative Assembly speaker Zulkefly Mohamad Omar was free to bring up the matter again to the MACC.
“The MACC has investigated this, so it’s up to the authorities.
“I’ve not been found guilty. It’s just that I transferred money through a money changer.
“There was no abuse of power, nor did I do something bad. I just bought an apartment in London,” the BN candidate for the Rantau by-election said at a press conference today.
At a ceramah last night, Zulkefly questioned why the MACC had not taken action against Mohamad, who allegedly broke banking laws with the RM10 million transfer.
“Who says he is clean? I lodged reports with police and MACC over the transaction, which was carried out through a money changer.
“But to date, nothing has come of it. He was never detained or questioned. I will see MACC again and ask them why they didn’t arrest him,” he said at a ceramah last night.
The Attorney-General’s Chambers under the BN government did not take any action against Mohamad, opting to go after the money changer instead.
Mohamad was investigated by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) over the transfer, done via Salamath Ali.
The matter came to light when BNM conducted a massive probe into money changers and their transactions.
The central bank found Salamath Ali to have breached the Money Changers Act 1998, upon which it lost its licence.
Mohamad also rebutted allegations raised by activist Badrul Hisham Shaharin regarding alleged misconduct regarding a deal with Felcra.
Badrul Hisham, better known as Chegubard, alleged last night that when Mohamad was menteri besar, he had signed over some 2,500ha of land to Felcra.
In the deal, the activist claimed, no land title was granted, nor premium payments made, which is said to have cost Negeri Sembilan millions of ringgit.
Badrul Hisham also claimed that RM30.65 million in proceeds from Felcra meant for the eKasih welfare fund had gone missing.
He added that he learned of these allegations after obtaining documents from district officers and state government staff.
Responding to the purportedly missing eKasih funds, Mohamad told Badrul Hisham to trace the money trail.
“Surely the money didn’t disappear. The money trail is easy to check (to see) where the money went,” he said. “Definitely not to my account.”
The former menteri besar also explained why no land title or premium was issued for the Felcra land deal.
He said it was his administration’s policy not to surrender land to corporations looking to develop oil palm estates.
Instead, he said, the land would only be leased for 21 years – to avoid a repeat of past situations, where the state government loses its land if joint ventures with private entities went south.
“The land has no title, meaning it is not pawned off to anyone,” he explained.
“At the same time, the state government doesn’t issue a premium because there is no title.
“They (corporations) only pay rent for the land to the state government.”