MCA president Ong Tee Keat has filed a police report against tycoon-cum-parliamentarian Tiong King Sing over the latter's claim of 'donating' RM10 million to the minister.

Apart from this, the transport minister has also instructed his lawyers to issue a legal notice to the Bintulu MP, asking him to retract his allegation and issue an apology.

NONE "If he fails to respond, legal action will be initiated against him in seven days," Ong told a press conference at the MCA headquarters in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon.

He has also ordered his lawyers to file for an injunction against Tiong - who is also Barisan Nasional (BN) Backbenchers Club chairperson - from making "further defamatory allegations".

Yesterday, Tiong had claimed that he had given RM10 million in donation to the MCA president last year in order to carry out party activities.

According to the Sarawak business tycoon-turned-politician, the money was paid in cash over three instalments during meetings with Ong.

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llegation 'a form of criminal defamation'

However, the MCA president had denied the accusation and reiterated it today. He said he lodged the police report because Tiong's allegation was a form of criminal defamation.

NONE "I categorically deny that I have received a RM10 million loan as alleged by Tiong ( left ). This is the work of people who are out to undermine my integrity as Transport Minister and MCA president.

"It is clear that the motive and intentions of these individuals are to derail the efforts of the Ministry of Transport and the Port Klang Authority, with regard to PKFZ issue," said Ong, who was flanked by top party leaders today.

He was referring to the findings of the Transport Ministry's special task force to probe the Port Klang Free Zone project, which alleged that project turnkey developer Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd, owned by Tiong, had made between RM500 million to RM1 billion in excessive claims .

"When I once said I was attacked from 10 directions, some said I made it up. Now, this issue is one of (the attacks). But it won't stop me from investigating the PKFZ scandal," said Ong.

Ong said that there was an "element of ambiguity" in Tiong's claims as it was not clear whether the RM10 million was a loan, donation or gift.

"There is no necessity for us to take his money. If he claims it was a donation, the onus is on him to prove where the money went. It cannot just evaporate into thin air," he said.

Four unpaid flights with KDSB jet

Meanwhile, Ong revealed that he had used KDSB's private jet five times for "emergency purposes" only.

He said that out of the five occurrences, he should not be billed for one flight - from Kuching to Kuala Lumpur - because he said he was "invited" to join that flight.

NONE "I was offered a seat (on board the flight). Even that can be ‘spun' into something different," he said, while insisting that KDSB has yet to issue invoices to charge him for the service.

In an apparent bid to show that there was no conflict of interest, Ong said he also engaged the services of other private jet companies and not just KDSB alone.

When asked why he had chosen to use KDSB's plane, in view of the probe on PKFZ, Ong replied: "Everybody is innocent until proven otherwise. As far as this is concerned, I bear no grudge against anybody."

Despite the latest developments, Ong said he would not allow the incident to sidetrack his efforts to probe the PKFZ scandal.

Copies of private jet's manifest