KUALA LUMPUR – PKR vice-president Datuk Xavier Jayakumar is contemplating legal action against news portal Malaysia Now for allegedly misreporting his relationship with Perak PKR deputy chief Datuk M.A. Thinagaran.
An aide to the Kuala Langat MP told The Vibes that Thinagaran had never served as Xavier’s aide when the latter was water, land, and natural resources minister.
“He (Thinagaran) was not an aide. They were working together during the party elections but he was never an aide or a special officer in the ministry or to the minister.
“Secondly, the car that was seized from Xavier’s house was never used during his time as a minister because the government had provided a car for official purposes.
“That car was only used once he was no longer a minister.
“He borrowed the car for official functions because he was uncomfortable driving his personal SUV around.
“He only used his SUV for personal matters.
“Right now, he’s consulting legal counsel and definitely contemplating a lawsuit because of the misreported facts in the article,” explained the aide who requested anonymity.
Xavier is expected to issue a statement on the matter.
The report alleged that Thinagaran had been arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to help them in their investigation over sand mining projects awarded during Xavier’s time as a federal minister.
However, the aide denied that Xavier had rubber stamped any sand mining projects during his time in Putrajaya – saying that his boss had not personally approved anything and if there were approvals, it came from someone with more authority than Xavier.
According to Malaysia Now’s report, the anti-graft body had seized RM1.2 million from a house and frozen RM77 million from a company’s bank account.
Similar to Xavier’s aide, Perak PKR chief Farhash Wafa Salvador Rizal Mubarak had rubbished the report alleging that assets and cash worth millions belonging to his deputy were seized.
In a statement, Farhash said only RM17,000 in small denominations was taken by the anti-graft agency to facilitate the probe into Thinagaran. – The Vibes, February 17, 2021
