SEREMBAN: A special officer to Negri Sembilan tourism, arts and culture committee chairman Nicole Tan has lodged a police report after Tan was accused of misappropriating RM180,000 in state funds.
Ng Wai Yee said she came across the post on Facebook at around 4pm on Monday (July 6).
"I saw a post on the Facebook page titled 'Reformati Studio Albert Tei', which displayed a poster titled 'Himpunan Tangkap 2 Pencuri' (Gathering to catch two thieves).
"The poster featured images of caretaker mentri besar Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun and Tan, who were labelled 'Thief 1' and 'Thief 2', along with allegations of abuse of power, fraud, and misappropriation of funds amounting to RM180,000," she said.
Ng said the post was also accompanied by a statement inviting the public to join a rally to demand action against the duo.
She said as Tan's special officer, she knew the allegations were false and defamatory.
The RM180,000 in question, she said, was to be disbursed for the well-being of the people and was channelled before the dissolution of the state legislative assembly in accordance with all financial procedures and regulations set by the authorities.
"All disbursements and related expenditure are backed by records, supporting documents and complete reports, with all payments made according to lawful procedures and subject to review by the authorities.
"There is no element of misappropriation, abuse of power or fraud as alleged in the post," she said.
Ng urged the police to probe the case as the allegations were made with the intention to incite public hatred against the duo and to undermine public confidence in them without any factual basis.
Tan's lawyer N. Sritharan, who was also present at the district police station, said they had been instructed to pursue legal action against those behind the defamatory post.
"Since a reckless and defamatory statement has been made against Tan, we have been instructed to issue a letter of demand against those responsible," he said.
On July 3, businessman Albert Tei asked the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to probe Aminuddin over the same matter.
He also said the MACC had three days to open an investigation paper on the alleged case, failing which he would organise a protest gathering outside its state office here.
However, it could not be immediately established if the Facebook account mentioned by Ng in her report belonged to Tei.
