KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 17 ― Real estate developer Datuk Tan Eng Boon's bribery charge has nothing to do with the sale of Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) land, Joland Group of Companies has clarified.
Tan is the current chairman of Joland Group of Companies. In a statement, they clarified that he was charged on Thursday under Section 16(b)(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 and an alternative charge under Section 109 of the Penal Code.
The real estate developer was charged with bribing former Federal Territories minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor with RM1 million.
“Prior to 15.11.2018, there have been several news reports in the media speculating that the Chairman will be charged for offences relating to the sale of 64 parcels of
Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s (DBKL) land amounting to RM5.63 billion.
“The Group vehemently denies the contents of the news reports and states that the same are false and misleading. The Group makes it clear that the formal charge made against its Chairman yesterday is unrelated to sale of DBKL land as speculated,” said the statement dated Friday.
Tan, 70, was charged with committing the offence at CIMB Bank’s Pusat Dagangan Dunia branch on Jalan Tun Ismail, where he allegedly handed over the RM1 million cheque to Tengku Adnan.
The court heard that the cheque was issued by Tan under Pekan Nenas Industries Sdn Bhd for increasing the density of a plot of land in Jalan Semarak for development by Nucleus Properties Sdn Bhd (now known as Paragon City Development Sdn Bhd), which had an official deal with Tengku Adnan’s ministry.
Judge Azura Alwi ordered Tan to report to the nearest Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) office every month and inform the court seven days prior to leaving the country for anywhere other than Singapore since he travels there often for business and medical reasons.
“Further, Joland Group of Companies has never obtained any government link’s projects in the past 40 years. Dato Tan Eng Boon has been actively participate and very supportive of various charitable activities.
“The Group hopes that the media would not continue to speculate and spread unsubstantiated news about Dato Tan Eng Boon and his family members and in the meantime, let justice take its due course,” the group added.
