Selangor exco member Ronnie Liu has clarified that he suspended three aides to prevent the public from pursuing them for support letters.

"That was done for NONE their own protection. People keep coming to them to ask for stuff because they are my assistants,” said Liu, when contacted yesterday in Singapore.

"Anyway, I called them all for a meeting (to explain this), and they understood (my intention). I am just suspending them. I need to do some cleaning up first, then I’ll re-appoint them (later).”

He stressed that the trio - Ismail Arsat, S Selvadurai and Tan Yong Beng - are not involved in any wrongdoing.  

Ismail and Sevadurai, representing PAS and DAP respectively, are both Klang municipal councillors.

Liu laughed off the allegation that he has 17 assistants who have been signing support letters on his behalf for contracts involving billboards.

“It is nonsense. This is untrue. This is from my enemies... I think it is more likely that I have 17 enemies than 17 assistants. I can’t afford to pay that many assistants,” he said.

He said he is “not that busy” and does not require such a large team of assistants to help him sign letters.

‘More than one impersonator’

However, Liu said he is sure that more than one person has been signing support letters on his behalf without his permission.

"(However), even the police can't determine who these people are," he claimed.

As a precaution, he has withdrawn  his official letterhead and seal from his aides, and will be making new ones with security features to prevent abuse.

Liu’s troubles w NONE ith support letters surfaced after it was claimed that former aide Tee Boon Hock (right) had abused his letterhead and seal to issue support letters for businesses involving more than RM1 million in state government contracts.

Tee has been sacked from DAP for allegedly issuing a support letter to a company linked to his son, while Liu has lodged a police report on alleged forgery of his official stationery.

Tee remains a Klang municipal councillor.

Yesterday, a source close to Tee had told Malaysiakini that up to 17 individuals had signed support letters on behalf of Liu and that it was impossible for Liu not to know their identity.

Klang Municipal Council (MPK) president Mislan Tugiu, when contacted on Monday, declined to confirm if there were indeed 17 signatures as claimed, but revealed that the state audit department is probing the matter.

Sources said the audit team questioned several MPK officers yesterday morning and visited the finance department.

Teng, Liu can bring witnesses for hearing