The Penang state government has refused to accept the money returned by Umno, reportedly collected from those who rejected the cash award for senior citizens out of concerns that the funds were derived from illicit sources.

NONE Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng admitted that the state government had received the money from Umno, but could not accept it as the manner in which it was returned - via ATM - may pose a problem for auditing.

He added that he declined to accept the total of RM23,700 banked into the state coffers as the source of the money was uncertain.

"We don't know whether the source was ‘ haram ’ or ‘ halal ’... It could be haram where the law is concerned," he told a press conference at the Penang state assembly building today.

He warned that it was dangerous to accept the money, as it could have been contributed by a criminal.

A criminal may one day say he had contributed money to the state government and that we had accepted it, he said.

"We may be accused of colluding with the said criminal... So we must not take the matter lightly," he added.

Lim said he had instructed state financial officer Mokhtar Jait to return the money via cheque to Umno's acting opposition leader Hilmi Yahya (BN-Teluk Bahang).

NONE "Umno admitted it was them who banked in the money into our account, so we will return the money to them... what they do with it is their business," he said.

If the money came from senior citizens, Umno should provide their particulars, Lim added.

"We did not give money to Umno, who knows it is corruption money... this is dangerous, you know," he quipped.

Lim said there was no record of anyone returning the money to the state government, or else the latter would have cancelled the individual's name from the list of recipients of the award.

In fact, the number of those who registered for the award had increased from 85,000 to 115,000.

"Those who cancelled their names will not be able to get their money yearly... They also cannot claim for the RM1,000 compensation for beneficiaries upon their parents' death," he said.

"I think that is why no one has returned the money or withdrawn from the programme," he explained.

NONE State exco member for health, welfare, caring society and environment Phee Boon Poh ( right ) confirmed that no one has withdrawn from the said programme.

He asked why the opposition (Umno) did not raise the matter in the state legislative sitting yesterday.

He added that he has shown proof that no one returned the money, and the public was aware through media reports that if anybody wanted to return the money, they should do so by filling out a form, available in all district offices and offices of Pakatan Rakyat assemblypersons.

NONE "By not following procedures, the Umno reps have (shown) no respect for procedures... I believe they did not collect the money from senior citizens but from other sources, and we do not know whether it was halal or haram money" he said.

"I believe Umno will use this as a political campaign in other states; how many campaigns such as these they have done? But today they are trapped in their own accusations," he added.

In an immediate response, Hilmi ( left ) denied that the money belonged to Umno, saying he, too, refuses to accept the cheque.

"We will let the cheque expire," he added with a laugh.