PETALING JAYA, Dec 4 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers revealed utility bills today belonging to Anson Wong’s wife that has the same address as a wildlife trading company, which they claimed is headed by the alleged wildlife smuggler’s proxy.
PKR MP N. Surendran and DAP MP Dr Ong Kian Ming showed an electricity bill dated June 2013 and a water bill dated August 2013, both of which were addressed to Cheah Bing Shee at 125-X, Jln Tg Tokong in Penang, which is the premises for Rona Wildlife that is currently owned by Radamani Govindan, according to the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM).
“This is proof that Rona belongs to Anson and it’s a front,” Surendran told reporters at the PKR headquarters here today.
“Anson and his wife are operating with the knowledge and complicity of the authorities using Rona Wildlife,” added the Padang Serai MP.
An Al Jazeera documentary titled “The Return of the Lizard King”, which was aired last month, showed a foreign worker purportedly employed by Rona Wildlife telling the international news channel’s journalist Steve Chao that his boss is Wong, who is also known as the notorious “Lizard King”.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment said in a statement last month that Wong is not listed as an owner, shareholder or board member of Rona Wildlife.
It also insisted that the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) had revoked all wildlife trading licenses from Wong and his wife in September 2010, after he was arrested for attempting to smuggle 95 boa constrictors in his luggage at the airport from Penang to Jakarta.
Wong was initially sentenced to five years’ jail, but his sentence was reduced to just 17 months on appeal and he was released in February 2012.
According to the SSM, Rona Wildlife was registered on December 14, 2010, which was after Wong’s arrest four months earlier in August.
Al Jazeera has alleged that Wong has returned to wildlife trafficking despite his conviction, and revealed a year-long investigation showing exotic animals such as rare tortoises, wild cats from North Africa, albino pythons, white and yellow snakes, deadly vipers, and chameleons being kept at Wong’s various stash houses in Penang.
