KUALA LUMPUR – A senior reporter said she had written news reports pertaining to the RM9.5 million received by lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah based on a press statement released by the latter, the high court here heard today.
Malay Mail journalist Lim Lee Ting, 32, said she received the statement titled “Press Statement of Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah Pertaining to the RM9.5 million” on September 8, 2018, from Shafee’s son and lawyer, Muhammad Farhan, and processed it into four articles.
According to Lim, the four news stories written based on the media statement were reviewed and published on the Malay Mail website on the same day.
“All the news reports, among others, stated that Shafee claimed he had received RM9.5 million from Datuk Seri Najib Razak not as payment for the prosecution’s case against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, but as legal fees related to 46 election petitions involving Barisan Nasional and Umno for 2004 and 2006.
“One of the news reports from the processed media statement contained allegations that Shafee had been investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on the issue of the RM9.5 million payment.”
The third prosecution witness said this when reading her statement on the second day of Shafee’s trial.
Shafee was charged with receiving RM9.5 million in proceeds from illegal activities from Najib, and two counts of making false statements to the Inland Revenue Board.
Lim said she had received the six-page news release dated September 8, 2018, in PDF format from Farhan via WhatsApp.
“I sent the 15-paragraph media statement to the editor because I knew Farhan was a reliable source as (he is) the son of Shafee.”
Lim also confirmed that she, herself, prepared the articles based on the news release received from Farhan.
A few days later, she learnt from a news report written by her colleague that Shafee had been charged in court over the RM9.5 million issue.
“On October 23, 2018, I was contacted by MACC to confirm the press statement I received from Farhan, and a meeting was arranged with the case’s investigating officer, Mohamad Farid Jabar, at the Malay Mail office seven days later.
“I was asked to compare and confirm the statement I received (from Farhan) with the statement shown by MACC. I found that, apart from the different number of pages, the contents of these two statements were mostly the same.”
Lim said prior to October 23, 2018, she had not been contacted by any MACC officer to record a statement regarding the articles she had written.
On September 13, 2018, Shafee claimed trial to two charges of receiving money derived from illegal activities amounting to RM9.5 million via two Najib-issued cheques, which were deposited into his CIMB Bank Bhd account.
He is alleged to have received a cheque for RM4.3 million on September 13, 2013, and another for RM5.2 million on February 17, 2014. – Bernama, May 28, 2021
