Pertubuhan Minda dan Sosial Prihatin (PMSP) chairperson Ramesh Rao Naidu insisted that Lester Melanyi's status as a bankrupt has no bearing on his expose regarding Sarawak Report .

Ramesh, who lodged a police report on conspiracy by Sarawak Report and opposition leaders to smear 1MDB and the prime minister on July 15, refused to elaborate but admitted that Lester has "a lot of debts".

"He has lots of debts. But that is his story. I, too, have lots of debts. I have to pay installments to the bank.

"What is the problem (with being bankrupt)? There's no problem," he told Malaysiakini .

Checks with the Sarawak National Insolvency Department today revealed that Lester was declared bankrupt in 2012 and his status is yet to be updated.

Due to this, Lester, who has made a video confession, cannot be sued.

Opposition lawmakers Rafizi Ramli and Tony Pua are considering legal action against Lester for implicating them.

Lester claimed he worked as an editor for Sarawak Report and helped fabricate information for the whistleblower website.

However, Sarawak Report's editor-in-chief Clare Rewcastle-Brown said Lester never worked for the website and was only hired for a few months at Radio Free Sarawak (RFS) in 2011.

Lester has yet to reply to Malaysiakini's query regarding the matter.

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