KUALA LUMPUR, March 7 ― Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching volunteered today to help a senior policeman fund his trip to Australia and legal battle to take back his impounded money.
However, the DAP lawmaker wants Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department chief Datuk Seri Wan Ahmad Najmuddin Mohd to declare his assets publicly to show he is financially-strapped as said.
“If cost is indeed the problem, I volunteer to do crowdfunding for him, to aid him to travel to Australia and engage the lawyer friend of Nadeswaran to retrieve his hard-earned dollars, on condition that he declares his asset publicly to prove that he really can't afford the legal action,” she told a press conference outside the Dewan Rakyat here.
Teo was referring to journalist R. Nadeswaran, who was yesterday reported to have offered Wan Ahmad the services of a Melbourne-based lawyer friend to recoup some A$320,000 (RM970,000) frozen in the policeman’s Australian bank accounts.
According to Nadeswaran, the policeman would not have to pay any money if he loses in court there as the Australian legal system allows a “no win, no charge” arrangement.
Teo said she was offering her help because Wan Ahmad had said the money in his Australian account was meant for his children’s education there.
“Now the money is being frozen, so how are his children going to continue their study in Australia?” she questioned.
The Australian Federal Police had been reported to have frozen Wan Ahmad’s money kept in a Commonwealth Bank “Goal Saver” bank account after a “flurry of suspicious cash deposits”, all under the A$10,000 limit that would have triggered mandatory reporting under the country’s laws against money laundering.
Wan Ahmad was initially reported to have said that he does not intend to mount a legal challenge to retrieve the money, citing costly court proceedings in Australia.
But yesterday, Inspector-General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun said the CID chief fully intends to reclaim his frozen money and will decide whether or not to repatriate the cash, which was said to be the proceeds from selling a RM700,000 property in Shah Alam, Selangor.
